Boost Your Dog’s Play Drive with Food‑Stuffed Toys

Improving Dog Play Drive with a Food Stuffable Toy

Despite a toy box full of toys, Mr. N only plays with them for a five or ten-minute spurt each day. His play drive is definitely not high enough for toys to be a reliable reward. He prefers food and the smugness of being right. I’ve been working with him to make toys more appealing. He has a special stuffed squirrel he only gets as a reward and a fur tug to appeal to his terrier instincts.

One of the latest additions to our training tool box is the . It’s a three part ball that is lined with velcro so you can stuff food inside it. Dogs can either rip it apart themselves which appeals to their hunting instincts or they can bring it to you to be opened which is the method that Mr. N prefers.

Mr. N has very little interest in balls but once he saw that the ball had food in it, he was much more willing to go chase after it and bring it back to be opened. He will retrieve but usually he finds it boring after a half-dozen throws. You can use the ball for distance training and treat the dog from a distance which is handy for things like agility training and teaching contacts. Right now, I’m mostly just using it to teach Mr. N that toys have value. Tasty value.

 

The Lotus Ball is an interactive toy which means it should only be played with under supervision. I don’t think it would hold up to a lot of aggressive chewing.

All toys mentioned were purchased by myself.

Mr. N is busy trying to figure out how to earn more food. Is your dog into toys? Would your dog like playing with a food stuffable toy?

Welcome to First Monday’s Positive Pet Training Blog Hop hosted by Cascadian Nomads, Tenacious Little Terrier and Rubicon Days. Please share your responsible pet owner positive pet training tips by linking a blog post or leaving a comment below.  Our theme for this month is play and trying out new training games.. but any positive reinforcement training posts or comments are also always welcome. The Positive Pet Training Blog Hop goes all week long. Our next hop will begin Monday, June 6th and continues for a week. The theme for June is reporting back on trying out new training games.