NYCityPets.com

It was nice to leave the city for a weekend. It was especially nice to find a drool-worthy line of dog toys: Dog Smart by Nina Ottosson.

Friends in Madison, WI brought me to a shop called Bad Dog Frida where they prominently displayed the different dog puzzles that I am now obsessing over as we try to come up with more ways to keep our pooch entertained indoors in the winter.

The toys all involve hiding treats under or inside a movable part. The dog has to figure out how to rat the treats out of the toy. Some pieces can be picked up by mouth, moved with the nose, or hit with the paw. The idea is that you train your dog how to find the treats and then praise for the right behaviors. If you are trying to teach your dog only to use the nose and not the paws, you may have to work at it, but it will be a fun exercise for the both of you.

Some of Ottosson’s Dog Smart toys are plastic and some are wooden. I really like the look of the wooden ones, and plan on getting one very soon for the dog and perhaps another for the cats at the shelter. What a great way to combat cage craziness or household boredom. (I didn’t buy yet because I didn’t want to pay to check a second bag on the plane!)

The toy I did pick up was the HI.Q. linkable pipe toy. She is already loving her new red toy because it is designed to be flipped, chewed, dropped, carried, and it hasn’t fallen apart while the treats keep trickling out.
Now I am considering buying the interlocking ball to make it more challenging for her. These puzzling toys are the only successful kind in our house with a 9-year-old dog who yearns for playing. She is no longer comfortable gnawing on a hard bone for long periods of time. Although some of the toys may be a little costly ($21-55 dollars for the Dog Smart toys and $14-15 for the HI-Q toys), I think it they are worthwhile and if they fall out of favor with our dog, I can donate them to other bored dogs.