How To Fill A Kong So It Lasts

Posted on by TheBorkingGabby

If you have a dog, there are situations when you don’t have time but you need to keep your dog busy for a while.

Some of you probably already tried with a kong. The package usually advertises that the toy is supposed to last hours but that not always happens. If the toy is not well stuffed, a kong can last as little as 30 seconds or if it’s not introduced in the right way, your dog can find the problem too difficult to solve and will soon lose interest.

There are a few tips to help you with a kong. First of all , if your dog is on diet, you can feed him his daily servings with the toy and second you don’t necessarily need to buy tasty treats or to use peanut butter (that a dog can only eat so much) to get your dog to stay interested in the kong over time.  I suggest to use dry and wet food and to introduce the toy in the right way.

Infact dogs will try to solve a difficult problem (such as taking out all the food from a kong even when it’s not easy) only if they are really confident and enough sure that they can do it.

To build up your dog’s confidence you have to start with giving him an easy problem to solve and then make it gradually more difficult.

For the first phase to the introduction to the toy you need to fill the kong with dry food. Don’t stuff it too much so the food will come out very easly and then give it to your dog. Repeat for a few days until your dog gets really excited every time you pick up the kong.

For the second phase stuff half the kong with dry food and the other half with wet food. Again repeat for a few days. In this way your dog  will have to work trough the wet food to get to the dry one.

For the third phase stuff the kong in the same way as in the second phase but this time freeze it before giving it to your dog. This will make it last longer. Repeat for a few days.

For the fourth phase stuff the kong with a mix of dry and wet food, give it to your dog and then again repeat for a few days. It is now more difficult for your dog to get all the food.

For the fifth and last phase stuff the kong in the same way as in the fourth phase and then freeze it before giving it to your dog.

I suggest to prepare a few kongs to store into your freezer and ready to use any time you need, as well as going back to an unfrozen kong (e.g. a second phase kong) or an easier frozen kong (e.g. a third phase kong) every four or five times. Introducing a different type of kong now and then will prevent your dog from getting a bit bored or frustrated over the exercise.

Try now this method and enjoy watching your dog having fun!

If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or if you need help with one of our services don’t hesitate to contact us in the following ways. We are available for all Chelmsford (UK) area.

As always I apologise if my english is not perfect. Still work in progress!

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