Kongs

[ladyfreckles]

For some reason Viking is showing zero interest in stuffed kongs. I tried peanut butter, honey, kibble, treats and kibble, and even putting a freeze dried liver (which he loves!) in there. We bought a large, heavy duty one. Do you think maybe the kong is too big? Should I have gone with a medium?

He just licks it and then walks away. I'm trying to figure out how to get him interested in it so he stimulates his muscles while he eats. Is it normal for pups not to like kongs?

[Emoore]

Does he show interest in peanut butter, treats, kibble, etc when it's not in the kong?

[SamanthaBrynn]

It took Callie a while to actually like her Kong. However, she really liked her Food Cube. That was fun for her.

[ladyfreckles]

Originally Posted by Emoore

Does he show interest in peanut butter, treats, kibble, etc when it's not in the kong?

Yep, he goes nuts over them! He's very food motivated. He's somewhat toy motivated but I need to find the right toys--he can be picky. He'll play with stuff but there isn't much he really goes nuts over.

[AthenaClimbs]

my girl doesn't show interest in Kongs either. She goes crazy over the Everlasting treat ball. Maybe try that.

[Cassidy's Mom]

The large might be too big and hard for him. If it's too hard to get the food out some dogs will loose interest. If it's too easy, they lose interest once there's no food in it anymore. Sometimes you have to strike just the right balance of easy and hard.

[RocketDog]

You might try a smaller sized one for now, just to see. I started Rocket on a small one until he hit the weight limit then switched it up. Also, I only ever gave it to him in his crate in the beginning (he was in there more then--now he's only it if we're gone).

[Rua]

I always found Kongs to be a bit of an enigma, because I'd hear people tell me how much their dogs LOVED their Kong and for some reason I always had dogs that HATED them.

I had a heavy duty Black Kong for my Dobie years ago, which she ignored, much to my dismay. I could never get her to like it. She preferred pressed rawhide.

With Juno, it seemed to be the same. I got her a large puppy kong and filled it with various things and she ignored it too. Then I recently filled it with her kibble that was softened with water, smooshed to a paste and mixed with a little bit of canned food. Now she goes mental for her kong. She'll spend ages trying to get the food out. lol

When she gets bigger I'm gonna get her a XL Classic Red Kong. I don't know if I'll bother with the Black Kongs unless she turns into a power chewer. The black kongs have no give to them whatsoever, so it makes it a lot harder to get the food out. Maybe that's the point.

[RocketDog]

Ha Ha Cassidy'smom! We posted at the same time.

[Scarlettsmom]

I bought Scarlett a kong and she is not the least bit interested in it. I was just going to clean it up and donate it to the local shelter.