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Adopters Anonymous: Tip of the Month

Dear Open Paw:
Now I have a different problem – I have the red standard Kong, and a
11 week old Bulldog puppy – is it possible his tongue is too wide to
effectively use this Kong? I did it this morning with food soaked
since last night, and he couldn’t get most of the food out... So I had
to help him by knocking it around and pounding the food out and
such... I wondered if some breeds need a bigger Kong for this – even
though he is a puppy... Or will he somehow get better at it – it seems
like it is more around how his tongue can reach in there, though!

Dear Karla,
Congratulations on your new pup!

At 11 weeks he may not yet know how to best use a Kong, it is a learned
skill to some degree. Also, puppy tongues are kind of short. I would
recommend filling the first half (the narrow part) with loose kibble
and the top half with the mushy mixture. This way your pup can lick at
the first half of the mush and the reward will be a jackpot of loose
kibble at the end. Voila!

Also you may not want to freeze the Kong, but just chill it in the
fridge until your pup gets a bit better at unstuffing it.

Think of Kong unstuffing in stages. A Kong filled with loose kibble is a
Kindergarten level project. A Kong stuffed as described above is a
middle school project. A fully mushed Kong that is not frozen is a high
school level project. And a Fully mushed and FROZEN Kongsicle is like a
university project. That said, your pup will most likely advance to a
college level Kong by the time he is 6 months of age, especially if he
is eating his meals out of Kongs.

For a loose kibble project, great for days when you are in a rush, I
would recommend the Squirrel Dude, made by Premier Pet Products.

I would use both of these tools alternating occasionally because they
work differently and develop different skills. They are two different
kinds of games.

Best of luck!

Kelly Gorman Dunbar