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