RFI: toys to keep puppy occupied

[rob_s]

Wife and kids have left on a three week trip leaving me alone with our 16 week Shih Tzu puppy. Yes, I know this is not ideal. Yes, we have someone that will be coming by the house daily to interact with him while I’m at work. However, being alone, being gone for 10 hours a day, and then needing to come home and get shot done means he’ll need to be “alone” more often than he’s used to so far in his life. In a house of 4 someone is pretty much always willing to play with him. In a house of one that’s just not going to happen.

I’ve already tried the peanut butter in Kong trick that has worked with every other dog I’ve ever owned, and he’s not terribly interested. I was thinking maybe one of those treat balls that he can chase around and ever so often a small treat will drop out?

Im obviously not abandoning the dog. He’s sitting here with me right now, and we happily play fetch while I watch tv so we will continue that. I just need something that he can do on his own too that doesn’t involve eating the carpet or biting my feet (or attacking our other dog, a deaf 16 year old Shih Tzu with back problems that doesn’t really want to play).

[ranger]

A second puppy

[LittleLebowski]

Dog date.

[rd62]

A second puppy

Agreed

[Hambo]

Crate training and a dog walker. It's best for you and the dog.

[RevolverRob]

We have one of these: https://www.chewy.com/busy-buddy-twi...SABEgKjGfD_BwE

For our dog and we've found it to be among the best of the toys for this kind of distraction. Be aware, once the dog is smart enough to get the treats out of it easily, you'll have to make it harder (by using larger treats) or be prepared for it to only offer you ~15 minutes of distraction.

Right now with moderate sized soft treats, the dog gets ~20 minutes of time playing with it, though he usually has all the treats out in 10-minutes, but usually that tires him out for 40-45 minutes.

We also have one of these: https://www.chewy.com/planet-dog-orb...SABEgLtaPD_BwE

Which the dog also loves, it's a bit more of a rambunctuous toy than the disc above and may be too big for your pup. That said, you can use different sized treats and take a larger treat and use it to "block" the hole and it makes it harder for the dog to get everything out. I use this sometimes when I am working from home and I really need the dog to leave me the fuck alone for 90-minutes. It usually takes him 20-30 minutes to get all the treats out the way I fill it and then he is exhausted from throwing the thing around and trying to get the treats out that he lays down and naps for an hour.

[luckyman]

Does he already have some long lasting chewable item she tolerates well? My 17 week old GSD pup would have eaten all the rugs in the house if it weren’t for “bully sticks”; other consumable items such as lamb horns affect her digestion.

Maybe pay extra for more time during the day? Including some significant exercise so he gets tired AF in the afternoon? Good luck; no way this would ever work with my pup.

[nycnoob]

Hear Doggy Silent Squeaker Flattie Plush Dog Toy

https://www.chewy.com/s?rh=brand_facet%3AHear+Doggy


These are about $10 each, the squeaker is high enough pitched that humans can not hear it.
Dog really love it. There are numerous other styles/colors but only a few are showing on the chewy site
at the moment.

[rob_s]

I was hoping to avoid the preaching and instead stick to the question at hand. He has a crate, he’ll be in it all day, a walker will be coming by, sometimes two, I’m not adding to the problem by getting another dog and I’m really just looking for toys that people have had first hand success with.

This isn’t for when I’m not here, it’s for when I am but can’t be directly entertaining him because I have cooking or cleaning or other choring to do but I don’t want to make him sit in the crate any longer than he has to.

I do have one of these on order.

West Paw Zogoflex Tux Treat Dispensing Dog Chew Toy – Interactive Chewing Toys for Dogs – Dog Games for Aggressive Chewers, Fetch, Catch – Holds Kibble, Treats, Made in USA https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0872HK6JS..._4Aq3EbAG9GEX2

[UNM1136]

-breaking self imposed posting layoff-

My guy was a power chewer. Bully sticks worked, and worked well, but now he sees one as a treat and in 10 minutes he is done. This started right after he lost his pupply teeth at 6.5 months.

What worked for my guy as a pup was to put his normal food into a Kong. I used Fresh Pet because it was less messy, but you can use kibble if you moisten it. Pack it into the Kong with the handle of a wooden spoon. Throw in the freezer until solid. I used to fill three Kongs before bed and put them in the freezer overnight. The smell of the food and a hungry pup kept him interested(another point for Fresh Pet, he saw it as a treat). Working on the food thaws it slightly, but makes him work to get it out. You can use this as his regular meals, or as a supplement. A working dog trick is that if you know you will need him to entertain himself, then postpone his first meal of the day until you need to get busy and then give him his meal, frozen in the Kong. He won't starve if his first meal of the day is postponed 4, 5, or even 8 hours. Depending on his personality he may resent it, and let you know, though. Never was an issue with my guy. 2 hours of working the Kong were not unheard of with my guy, although 30-60 minutes seems to be the norm, depending how aggressively he went at it.

The frozen food filled Kong works in the crate, in the exercise pen, outside, on the kitchen floor, under the desk, etc. Since it works in the crate I would throw a couple in the cooler when we traveled.

I am going back to my corner for a few more days layoff from posting, plus a penalty couple of days for not having the willpower to stick with it. But I like dogs.

pat