The Kong—The #1 Toy for Beginning Enrichment

When it comes to enriching your dogs life, nothing is more simple to use, or more versatile than the Kong. It’s like the swiss army knife of dog toys. If you do nothing else today, and don’t already have a Kong, go out and buy at least one for your dog. Rubber food-stuffable toys are a must have in every dog owners tool kit for play time, feeding time, and even for helping with behavior problems.

Kongs come in all sizes and also come in different rubber types depending on the needs or age of your dog. In addition to their original rubber toy, Kong has softer rubber for teething puppies and mouth sensitive seniors, but also a tougher rubber for extreme chewers.

Even if you don’t stuff them with food, dogs still enjoy playing with them. Kongs are fantastic fetch toys. Their odd shape makes them bounce in unpredictable, exciting directions. You can either purchase the Aqua Kong, or string a rope through the middle of one you have, and now you have a combination tug and toss toy. Some dogs just love to lay down and enjoy the bounciness of the rubber to chew on; this is especially true for teething puppies.

Dogs benefit from daily enrichment, but if you are able to start by adding a food filled Kong to your dogs weekly regiment at least 3 times a week you’ll begin to notice a difference.

Kongs are the best “do something else toy” when packed with food and especially if its been frozen too. Freezing the food inside adds the perk of taking longer to empty and extends the time he gets to enjoy the game. If you have a dog that barks, is overly energetic, is bored, sleeps all the time, or shows signs of separation anxiety, then they are the best candidates to begin a frozen kong regimen.

You can fill a kong with many different types of healthy foods. I prefer to feed a portion of or the whole meal from a kong (which is a great option to occupy dogs who have learned to be disruptive durning dinner time). If you have more than one dog, make sure you separate the dogs during “Kong Time” so each as the opportunity to finish her own in peace.

Mixing a dry and a wet food together is the best combination for stuffing a Kong. The wet food goes in-between the dry and also helps everything stick together, making it more of a challenge for your dog to get it out. If you're not sure what to use, consult the suggestions below with the ratio of 3 parts dry food to 1 part wet food.

Make sure to keep your dogs daily food intake the same to avoid overfeeding. You may have to give a little less food during a meal to make up for it.

Pro tip: If freezing, place upended in a mug or wrap with saran wrap to prevent food leaking into your freezer. I have multiple Kongs, so I prepare them all at once, wrap them in saran wrap, and put them together in a large bowl in the freezer. That way they are ready to go throughout the week!

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