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| Ebons old XL Kong next to his new XXL Kong. He got extremely excited while I was taking the picture because I was Touching the Kong. He loves that thing. |
I finally decided to get Ebon a new Kong toy. His old one is now about five years old, give or take, and is well worn. I bought it when he was going through his chewing phase when toys were frequently ripped apart within weeks. Sometimes it was only days. Or minutes. Because of this, I wanted something that would last. I had known about Kong for a long time, but had never thought of buying one until this need arrived. I bought an XL one after going to the store with Ebon and doing some comparisons between his jaws and the different sizes.
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| The old Kong |
It's been filled with all sorts of things, chewed all over, put in the dish washer, scrubbed, thrown and chased, lost for several months in the yard, found, scrubbed again, thrown around some more, and lost again. I'm pretty sure the most damage has been caused by the several months it ended up spending out in the elements. It actually has stains that I never was able to get out, despite very thorough cleaning. It's a fabulous, sturdy fetch toy, by the way.
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| The new Kong |
Anyway, I noticed that the rubber around the big hole is cracking and starting to slough off. I don't want him
eating that, so it's being retired. I decided to go a size up with the new one since it can hold more. This way, if needed I can, say, put nearly an entire meal into it before heading out for the day and have him work to get it out. Maybe freeze something inside of it for a nice summer treat. His old Kong didn't hold all that much.
I smeared a little peanut butter inside the new Kong and he's happily chewing and licking it. It's definitely much easier for him to get to the bottom. That was another problem. If I put anything sticky in the narrow end of the Kong he just couldn't get it out. His tongue's too big.
I'm always amazed that all of my dogs will happily work the Kong when it contains a little peanut butter and the same kibbles that are always available in their bowls. It must be the hunting/scavenging instinct.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely keeps them busy! They're one of my favorite doggie toys because they can be so versatile. Ebon especially loves playing fetch with one because it bounces unexpectedly.
DeleteI need to get Conker a new Kong. His old one (medium? I'm unsure of the size) is a bit too small to be practical for what I'd prefer to use it for. Since he gets two meals (normally) I would like to be able to stick one of them, the mush meal, into a Kong and give it to him to keep him busy for a while when I need some peace and quiet.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to experiment with freezing things inside of this new one this summer. Since Ebon loves frozen things, I'm sure he'll really love things frozen in The Kong.
DeleteYah for Kong! Roxy just got a new one. It is a foot long round baton AND it squeaks. The great thing is that it is rubber so you can't pull it apart. The squeaker is somehow built into the design of the baton.
ReplyDeleteIf your dog likes peanut butter (what Lab doesn't!) try the dental Kong. When I got Roxy @6 months old, she was the Queen of Destruction. Every morning after breakfast she would rush around the house looking for something, anything, to destroy. After a couple of unpleasant weeks of this, a trainer mentioned Kong. Life was good again. Bonus...we have great teeth & gums according to our vet. We get less peanut butter now, but we don't seem to mind.
I'm assuming you're referring to the Squeezz Stick? I actually bought Ebon one of their Squeezz Ball toys because I thought it would be good and durable and squeak for a long time. However, Ebon somehow managed to break the squeaker. I swear, he's like a magical squeaker-breaking machine since he either breaks the squeaker very quickly or it mysteriously lasts a very long time. I don't have any idea how he broke that one since he normally does it by punching the mechanism inside using one of his massive canines.
DeleteI might try out a dental Kong. It's something I haven't thought about before, but boy does Ebon ever lover peanut butter, lol.