Thursday, October 10, 2013

Training Thursday - Review of the IQ ball



One of the new puzzles we got was the IQ treat ball. 

We have had the chance to play with it for over a week and here are our thoughts. Note: these are our thoughts, I independently purchased the ball and am sharing our experience with you. The company is not aware I am doing so. 

First it is Phody who loves this. He will ignore the bottle toy and take this one. When he is done, Hailey will take a turn with this, but she prefers the bottle. At first when presented with the ball, Hailey would just bark at it, she has gotten better with it. 

Pros:
- Easy to fill
- Easy to wash
- It seems durable. There has been no damage yet and both carry it in their mouths; it is generally played with (and therefore dropped) on ceramic; it has been rolled down the stairs onto the laminate floor many times. 
- It appears to dispense treats more easily when the ball is full, which makes it easy for them to figure out. However, as the treats are rolled out, it becomes harder. 
-While this size is large enough that Phod  and Lee won't choke on it but can still pick it up. 

Cons:
- Rolling it on ceramic/laminate is loud. Not the best toy if you want the dogs to be busy and quiet.
- Phod tends to get bored of it before it is empty and takes breaks (which then allows Lee to steal it and eat the food). So it can be hard to tell who has eaten what. [Not ideal if you want to use it to replace feeding and not have the dogs in separate rooms].
- It is a ball and can roll under places the dogs can't reach, meaning I may have to retrieve it or deal with Hailey's barking at it. 
-Hailey will become frustrated with it and bark if she doesn't think it is giving her treats fast enough. 


Overall, the dogs are enjoying it. 
We give it 3/4 paws.


Phod always takes it to the front door to play with. Here he is trying to lick the cookies out.


Rolling it

More rolling 


23 comments:

  1. We think the noise bit would annoy our peeps but apart from that looks like fun. Have a tremendous Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have carpet so I think I would like it. If food's in it I won't get bored..bawahwhhhwa xxooxx

    Mollie and Alfie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, that looks like a ton of fun! I'll have to ask my peeps to get one for me. I like loud and I like treats! Thanks for letting me see this and enjoy it!
    Grr and Woof,
    Sarge, COP

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hehehe... I LOVE the fact that Hailey barks at the ball if the ball is behavin' badly and not givin' out the treats. LOVE THAT! hehehe...

    Purrs,
    Nissy

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have a treat ball and I love bashing it into the kitchen cupboards, its sooo much fun :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Our DAD actually MADE treat dispenser thingys outta Plastic Jars fur us... WE love them... the Peeps... not so much... WE get really LOUD when we play with them... WE would love that ball thingy. It looks like grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat fun and FINE DINING to us.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi hi hi! Ojo here! That is a magic Ball! I want one! I am very good at losing things under the couch, but it sounds like maybe I would have the patience to make this one work. I will tell my person to keep an eye out for it! I do love Balls!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love love love toys that give out treats, and I love love love balls , so a ball that gives treats, OMD I could add that to my list of things I obsess about! BOL
    hugs
    Greta
    Bailey & Hazel too

    ReplyDelete
  9. We think we'll just let HER serve us in our dishes. Though we like our kongs for treats.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & roxy

    ReplyDelete
  10. PHOD I LOVE YOUR WORDLESS WEDNESDAY PICTURE...
    WELL YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR YOUR TREATS BUT I GUESS THAT IS OK SINCE YOU ARE ALSO LEARNING.
    HUGS MADI YOUR BFFF

    ReplyDelete
  11. We have one of these and Jack loves it. Agree with your pros and cons...it is noisy ;(

    ReplyDelete
  12. We like toys that dispense treats. We are glad things are going well!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

    ReplyDelete
  13. Nice review! Momma got me one of those for my birthday... I destroyed it.
    Nola

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sounds like a pretty good toy. I know how annoying loud toys can be sometimes. My baby has some of those =/ Funny, I guess dogs really are like kids hehe :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hailey cracks me up. Just bark at it until it gives you treats...ha, ha, ha.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm toooo lazy mom has tried many different types of "mentally stimulating" toys. I give them a good sniff but that's about it. I figure if she wants me to eat she will put food in my bowl. And for my mental stimulation I have dingos on the brain.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

    ReplyDelete
  17. Really! What an outrage!! Making you WORK for your treats??? I dunno--maybe it's a woofie thing?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for the review. I'm always looking for new IQ type toys. The noisiness is a huge issue for me. It drives me insane. But it looks like a fun toy!

    ReplyDelete
  19. That ball looks like a lot of fun! My balls don't have any treats in them, maybe I'll have to ask Mum to let me try one of those? :)

    Wags to all,

    Your pal Snoopy :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading and leaving us a comment. We love your comments!