What Wrong With my Kong?
By Ayella Grossman. Published in SNAP Magazine, Jan. 2010. Posted here by popular demand.
When people ask me what the essential toy is for any puppy, I have to agree with most trainers and say a Kong. We use them to help crate train our puppies and when they are older to keep them occupied while we are out. Unfortunately, I have heard so many people say that their dog shows no interest in a Kong. The Kong toy is not in itself interesting for most dogs. What is interesting is the thrill of getting what is in the Kong out. There is a right and wrong way of stuffing a Kong. The right way makes it more challenging and therefore keeps your dog occupied for longer.
In our Kong recipes, there are three parts to the Kong (see diagram):
The Good Stuff - What we fill the majority of the Kong with. In the recipes below mix the ingredients together in a bowl and then spoon into the Kong. I use parts as a measurement, because how much depends on the size of the Kong.
The Stopper - A piece of fruit or vegetable or a biscuit that is a little bigger than the opening of the Kong, which makes it hard to get “The Good Stuff” out.
The Icing - Something we put on top to get your dog’s interest. If you want to freeze your Kong creations, freeze without the icing and add the icing right before you give the frozen Kong to your dog.
The Puppy Tummy Pleaser
The Good Stuff
2 parts canned Pumpkin
1 part plain, all-natural yogurt
1 part boiled, cut up chicken breast
The Stopper:
Slice of Banana cut ½ inch thick
The Icing:
Yogurt
Liver Lunch
The Good Stuff
1 part Boiled Beef Liver, diced or chopped
2 part mashed potato
1 part shredded cheese
The Stopper:
A wedge of Apple – cut big enough that it fits into the top of the Kong with some effort.
The Icing
Cream Cheese
Peanut Butter and Jelly
The Good Stuff
1 part All-natural, no sugar added Peanut Butter
1 part mashed banana
½ part mashed strawberries
1 part broken dog biscuits (think cookie dough ice cream)
The Stopper
A Biscuit – The right biscuit depends on what size of Kong you are stuffing, you want it to fit into the Kong, but not easily.
The Icing
Peanut Butter
When you have a young puppy in the house that you are leaving on a daily basis, stuffing Kongs should become part of the routine. When we are crate training a young dog, a Kong is stuffed on a nightly basis, put in the freezer and pulled out the next day. We vary our recipes to keep our puppy interested and occupied. Soon enough we have a puppy who runs to his crate. This is why so many trainers recommend the Kong and now you have the recipe to turn your Kong into a crate and house training secret weapon.