Fill a Bunch of Kong Dog Toys Fast

 Do you use a lot of frozen stuffed Kong or other food toys? Are you still filling them individually? You are definitely missing out. I have an ever-changing horde of dogs these days, ranging from puppies to seniors. There is often someone on cage rest or needing some extra enrichment, so stuffed Kongs are still my first choice for frozen licky entertainment. (That reminds me, I need to make a post about why I don't use lick mats.) 

I know West Paw's Toppl toy is becoming the new food favorite for the high-end dog snob crowd, and I have a couple of those as well, but I am still Kong fan for a couple of reasons. The first is durability, the reason I own two Toppls is because West Paw is wonderful and sent me the second after one of my dogs ripped a chunk out of the first. The second reason I prefer Kongs is price, with availability coming a close third. A large classic red Kong is currently $14 retail through sites like Chewy, and can also be purchased at a lot of big stores that have a pet department including Target and Tractor Supply. A large Toppl toy cost $25 and can only be found at pet-specific stores, and I'm not even sure it can be found at very major pet retailed. Do both Petco and PetSmart currently carry them in-store? I don't actually know anymore, I now live in the middle of nowhere and Tractor Supply and Walmart are pretty much it.

Anyway, I own a ridiculous number of Kong toys of various colors and shapes, and I know that filling them can be time-consuming and obnoxious. I used to use a baby spoon to scoop filling into each one individually. I no longer have time for that. What is the fastest method to fill a bunch of food toys fast? The pastry bag method. Not only is it fast, it is also very easy, makes minimal mess, and ha zero cleanup. Ready?

1. Find a container to set all your food toy in. They need to sit upright. I use a plastic storage bin from a discount store like Pic-N-Save. But it's not Pic-N-Save anymore, is it? It's Big Lots. Metal dog bowls can also work, or tupperware, or a cardboard box. No need to get fancy. Ideally you should have freezer space to slide your entire container in, but I won't judge if you need to stick the toys into nooks and crannies among your frozen foods either. I've been there too,

2. Gather your toy fillings. I typically use some combination of canned pumpkin, Greek yogurt, canned dog food, and peanut butter. It's ok to use the canned dog food with the chunks. You want your filling to be pretty thick, so it doesn't leak out before it freezes. You can get extra fancy and add in chunkier things like green beans and other veggies if your dog will eat them. You could even puree everything together in a blender or food processor, but that makes more cleanup.

3. Get a gallon-size resealable bag, Ziploc or whatever brand, and dump all your fillings in. Seal that bad boy, and start mooshing. Squish your filling goodies together as much or as little as you like. If there is something your dog doesn't particularly like, smoosh it together a bit more to get a good mix. If they like everything, maybe mix it a bit less so it's like that swirly ice cream with the two flavors together.

4. Cut off the corner of the bag, and pipe that goodness into your dog toys like a pastry chef. When you're done, toss the bag in the trash and stick your toys in the freezer. 

Did you know that you can stick all those toys in the dishwasher to get them clean? Kong and West Paw toys and natural rubber dog toys in general are dishwasher safe. I finally have a dishwasher so I am no longer scrubbing every food toy. Between the dishwasher and the pastry bag filling method, we have food toys down to a science. Maximum efficiency.  

Don't Bleach Kongs.

Shortly after acquiring our purple Senior Kong, it rolled off the counter and into the sink. I had been soaking some scary tupperware in bleach water, and didn't find the purple Kong in there until the next morning. I had originally thought that bleaching Kongs was cool, but my purple Kong ended up with white streaks on it that I couldn't rinse or soak off.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Kong Company is pretty cool, so I sent them a message asking whether the purple streaky Kong was still safe to use. The reply I got back was pretty cool, they were happy to hear from me and get some feedback about how their product was doing in the wild.

It turns out that bleaching Kongs is a no-go:

"I would suggest replacing the Senior KONG. The KONG natural rubber, althought it appears smooth, is actually porous and can absorb materials over time. The bleach could have soaked into the rubber and we would not want Brisbane to consume that."

So there is the official word on bleaching Kongs. Happily, my Kong was still covered by the company's 30 day warranty. Standard procedure is to take the damaged toy plus the receipt back to the store where it was purchased and get a refund or exchange it for a bigger/tougher Kong. I ended up sending the purple Kong plus a printout of my Amazon order directly to the Kong Company. It takes a while, but they are sending us a new purple Kong.

Communicating with the Kong Company has been a lot of fun. The person I messaged visited my blog, noted that I do rescue and fostering, and sent me some coupons to get some new Kong for my monsters.

Project Kong Chewing: Success!

After a full month of encouragement, Ulysses as finally started to gnaw his durable rubber Kong toys for fun and recreation. I am so proud. This change occurred along with several other big steps for Uly, including beginning to jump up on things with both back feet at the same time, and being able to focus on me in the presence of a leashed dog.

From his broken and severely worn teeth, we have surmised that Uly used to enjoy chewing on abrasive things like tennis balls and rocks. This fits with our guess that he was confined to a small outdoor area for most of his life. He hadn't been gnawing non-edible things for fun prior to Project Kong Chewing, but his willingness to chomp on raw bones, bully sticks, and rawhides helped demonstrate that pain wasn't likely to be the issue. Maybe he just needed to learn how to be a dog again.

It's possible Uly would have gotten to this point on his own, maybe I didn't really teach him anything. What I did do was offer him softer and smaller Kongs, along with introducing them as fun fetch toys as well as vessels for peanut butter. Did it help? I'm not sure, Brisbane and Ru don't seem to be convinced that Kongs are for chewing.

This is what success looks like, people!

This is a project I undertook not for occupational therapy for Ulysses, but because I got tired of scrubbing bits of fossilized peanut butter out of the end of every Kong. Uly has so far made his mark on the red Kongs, and may be switching exclusively to Blue or even Black soon.

Of course, having an actual recreational chewer in the house means I will have to be more careful about retrieving Ru's tiny Kongs from his crate. Uly got one of the Extra Small ones yesterday and chewed the whole top off. I haven't found it yet, but will be watching the yard. It's a small piece of a very small toy inside a 50lb dog, so I expect that this too shall pass.

Product Review: Classic Kong

The classic Kong is a natural rubber chew toy in a distinctive snowman-type shape. It is durable and hollow in the middle, allowing the toy to be stuffed with edible treats. The Kong is available in six sizes to fit every dog from "that's not even a dog" through "pony".

Photo by Erin Koski

This is the flagship product of a highly successful dog toy company. Today they offer dozens of products for dogs, cats, parrots, and horses. The classic Kong dates back to 1976, when it was inspired by a rubber car part and a dog that liked to chew on rocks. The classic Kong shape is designed to bounce erratically for exciting chasing and play. It is non-abrasive on canine canines, and squishes pleasantly when chomped.

Today the classic Kong is a staple of the dog world. There are a variety of toys made from the original red rubber, from plain fetch balls to dental bones. The original snowman shape has been produced in several different types of rubber, from soft formulas for puppies and seniors, to super-tough materials for power-chewers.

Brisbane isn't a big fan of chasing or fetching the Kong, but for most dogs I know, the value of the toy is in its ability to be stuffed. I can cram this thing full of peanut butter, soaked kibble, wet dog food, cooked sweet potato, bananas, anything Brisbane thinks is worth slurping out of a toy. Freeze it solid, and he will spend at least ten minutes unstuffing it. The bigger the Kong, the bigger the challenge. Brisbane can safely chew a Medium Kong, but I prefer to give him a Large like the one shown here. We also have a couple of Extra Smalls for Ru, but he prefers to hide them in the couch rather than lick the peanut butter out of them.

There is really no limit to the ways a Kong can be used to entertain a dog. At one point the company sold a device that contained four Kongs that could be released at set times to help keep a dog busy for an extended period. I have personally duct taped stuffed Kongs inside several layers of cardboard boxes so that Brisbane had to destroy them in order to get to the food. When he was eating a premade raw diet, I would stuff his meals in them and freeze them so I could hand him one before I left for work in the morning.

Pros: Super durable, long-lasting, and dishwasher safe. Endlessly versatile, smear peanut butter inside, jam a biscuit in sideways, wedge it between the bars of the crate, toss it, bounce it. Use it to construct elaborate puzzles fro the dog to solve.

Cons: I want to say these last forever, but my experience has been that they actually have a lifespan of about 7-8 years of freezing, chewing, and dishwashering before they begin to crack. The decay is pretty obvious though, and it's slow enough that it's easy to tell when it's getting close to time to replace them. I think our Planet Dog Orbees have actually lasted longer than the Kongs. Despite the marketing, many dogs don't find an empty Kong terribly exciting.

Bottom Line: Every dog should have a Kong. I still had Oakley's classic Kong until a year or two ago. We have one Large and two Extra Small classic Kongs that I can find, and a Large and Medium that are currently at large under the furniture somewhere. We also have at least four other Kong rubber toys in various sizes and shapes, along with some of their newer offerings, including some Kong Quest toys and a Kong Marathon. At this point, my response to the news that Kong has made a new toy is "shut up and take my money!" Seriously. Kongs.