Kong Dog Toys-- questions

[EquestrianRunner]

I have some questions about Kongs.

I have a almost 3 year old Mini Poodle. She is not much of a chewer, but we need something to entertain her while we brush her. I have a Kong-- I don’t remember if it is one of the “classic” ones or one of the “puppy” ones. I was thinking of putting some peanut butter (we have regular Peter Pan Creamy peanut butter-- is this okay to feed her? I read somewhere that it needs to be only natural, unsalted, no sugar added, peanut butter?) in the Kong and letting her play with hit while we brush her. She hasn’t ever really had an opportunity to play with her Kong while it has food in it. She’s not overly food motivated though. :-/ She LOVES peanut butter, tuna, cheese, eggs, some dog treats, etc.

My first questions are:

1. Since she is not a puppy but this will be her first Kong experience should I use a puppy Kong, a regular Kong or maybe a senior Kong?

2. I should let her play with it first/get used to it before we make it our “grooming” toy, correct? The thinking is to make this a special toy that she only gets when she is being groomed/brushed (which is every night)

3. Do I need to freeze the Kong while it has the yummy food in it before I give it to her? I have read online that some people always freeze them, and some do not.

4. My thinking is to put some peanut butter in the Kong, just smeared in there, then some small bits of her favorite treats. Does this sound like a good plan? I don’t want it to be too hard since we will also be brushing her-- this is mainly to entertain her so she will be less squirmy/unhappy when she gets brushed.

Thanks!!!

[Event4Life]

1. If you look at Kongs in the pet store they have clear sizing charts. She’s probably the smallest size being a mini poodle.

2. I don’t know about this. My dog always seems to instinctively know what to do with her toys, but maybe some of the trainers on here can weigh in.

3. I wouldn’t think you’d need to freeze it for a short grooming session. The only reason people do that as far as I can tell is if they’re using the toy as something to last all day while they are away at work or whatever.

4. From what I’ve seen this sounds fine. On the natural-ness of peanut butter, well, if you eat it, its probably ok for your dog but may not be all that nutritious. Mine has a sensitive stomach so I always watch for what her poop looks like after I try a new type of food/treat for her.

I’d also say consider the types of brushes you are using. If she has that unhappy being groomed maybe the brush is too harsh? IIRC poodles don’t have the worlds thickest coats/skin, so you probably want a fairly soft brush like with horses that have thinner coats/skin

[3DogNight]

I would think the puppy kong would be fine for what you are suggesting. She will be more interested in the food inside than chewing the actual toy. We have large (70+ lb) dogs, and they all get the Kong Extreme, but they are also chewers. Peanut butter with some kibble is great. Ours also like yogurt and bananas (but that is best frozen).

If your dog hasn’t ever played with the Kong before, it won’t take more than a couple of times with food in the middle for her to figure it out. Also, make sure to rinse out the inside every couple of times, as it can get quite gross in there

[threedogpack]

freezing the food in the kong makes it last longer. If your grooming session is 10 min or less, then I would not, if more than 10 min I might. You can also try it w/o freezing and if it doesn’t last long enough, freeze it.

peanut butter is pretty high in fat, which might be an issue or give her the runs, or it might not. My dogs seem to have cast iron stomachs so nothing seems to really phase them. Your mileage may vary.

[HannahsMom7]

I make a mush of dog food and water and also mixed in a small piece of a treat. Eventually, the food gets soft and will pack into the kong. I use a next-to-the-smallest size kong. I would put a dab of peanut butter in the center and then pack more soft dog food on top.

freezing will make it last a bit longer, but not much! LOL

[GotGait]

I put small treats and kibble inside and then pack the top with peanut butter and freeze it. Sometimes I put a chew stick in there too and the frozen peanut butter holds it in place.

[Bacardi1]

How the heck do you clean them??? Just plain rinsing ain’t gonna get moldy peanut butter or any other soft sticky stuff out of the inside of those things.

[Aussie_Dog]

I saw somewhere that they sell these brushes made specifically for kong-shaped toys. Maybe it’s Kong that makes this brush? I didn’t see this at a pet store, it was at HomeSense, and it was, like, a week ago. Basically just looked like any tubed brush on a flexible stick that you use to clean tubes or bottles and the like.

Also, some pet stores sell dog-friendly peanut butter. Our PetSmart just started selling a few flavours/formulas of Peanut Butter (its called DogsButter). Only catch is, it’s expensive. I think $10 for 16oz

[crosscreeksh]

[QUOTE=Bacardi1;6928478]
How the heck do you clean them??? Just plain rinsing ain’t gonna get moldy peanut butter or any other soft sticky stuff out of the inside of those things.[/QUOTE]

This was a point I was going to make…make sure you wash the Kong thoroughly with soap and a bottle brush. The PB gets pretty nasty in there and will mold quickly!! Yuck!!

[Event4Life]

On the kong website it says you can run them through the dishwasher too…I’d probably rinse it off well before.

[kasjordan]

Just a quick warning- our Chi mix got about 2 Tablespoons of peanut butter in his Kong and that made him have bloody runs for two days- so be careful with the peanut butter.

[saje]

2 tablespoons for a chi mix?! That’s a LOT! I don’t give that much to my 55lb Lab.

I’ll put maybe 1 Tbsp in a big kong, mixed with chopped carrot bits, a little kibble, broken dog cookies etc. Luna’s pretty clever about them though, so I make the chunks of carrot pretty big to make her have to work at it. The PB is to keep her really interested in licking out the last drop

And I just soak mine in boiling water with a drop of soap in it, and use a bottle brush after with a good rinsing. Considering her favorite treat in the world is poop (horse, cat, deer…) followed closely by dead things in the woods (thanks neighbors :rolleyes:) a little bit of moldy PB in a Kong crevice doesn’t worry me all that much.

[trubandloki]

I use plain cheap peanut butter in kongs I give my dogs and have never had an issue. I am sure it being a problem for the dog totally depends on the dog, just like everything else.

I have washed kongs in the dishwasher with out issue.

[kasjordan]

[QUOTE=saje;6929698]
2 tablespoons for a chi mix?! That’s a LOT! I don’t give that much to my 55lb Lab.

I’ll put maybe 1 Tbsp in a big kong, mixed with chopped carrot bits, a little kibble, broken dog cookies etc. Luna’s pretty clever about them though, so I make the chunks of carrot pretty big to make her have to work at it. The PB is to keep her really interested in licking out the last drop

And I just soak mine in boiling water with a drop of soap in it, and use a bottle brush after with a good rinsing. Considering her favorite treat in the world is poop (horse, cat, deer…) followed closely by dead things in the woods (thanks neighbors :rolleyes:) a little bit of moldy PB in a Kong crevice doesn’t worry me all that much.[/QUOTE]

Yep for that dog it was. My daughter swiped it in there. I had a JRT mix that could eat an entire container of peanut butter and nothing. That’s why I wanted to warn her, just in case the dog never had before and she didn’t know if it would be an issue.

[wendy]

peanut butter is very high in fat and sugar, so you do need to be careful how much you use. Even if it doesn’t give the dog the runs, it may make the dog fat quite quickly.

does the dog LIKE being touched while eating? my concern about this grooming scheme is most dogs really don’t like being touched while they eat, in fact, some dogs have to be carefully de-conditioned to not bite people who try to touch them while they eat.

Also most dogs need to lie down and hold the kong with their front feet- can you groom the dog while it’s lying down?

I just train my dogs to stand still for grooming- we train a stand-stay using click n treats, and then put them in the stand-stay and groom. Usually give a treat after the grooming session.

[EquestrianRunner]

Sorry for not responding sooner!!!

She does not mind being touched at all while she eats. What we have been doing is I will put treats and peanut butter and a duck strip-- she loves them! Then I will hold the kong for Bailey while my mom brushes her. It seems to work really well-- she is way less antsy and grumpy. We only give her the kong while she is getting groomed. So its a special thing. I had not been putting them in the freezer, but I just put one in the freezer for tomorrow. We shall see! Thanks so much guys!!!

[BuddyRoo]

You can also mash things like cooked carrots, green beans, sweet potato, etc and put that into the kong if you want to go a little lower cal.