Puzzle Toy Review: JW Playbites Caterpillar

The JW Playbites Caterpillar by Petmate is a durable, chewable toy that has for treat-holding segments. This is a natural rubber toy that is intended to stand up to some actual gnawing. It comes in various colors and two sizes for dogs.

Photo by Erin Koski

So far the caterpillar has only been used a treat dispenser around here, nobody has felt the urge to really chew on it. They have had quite a lot of fun emptying it out, though. Each segment has an x-shaped opening, and each opening is on a different side.

This is definitely a chew toy that can hold treats, it's primary purpose is not dispensing food. There's no way I could feed meals out of it, but the caterpillar makes a fun project for a crated dog. Sometimes I stick a few pieces of kibble in it when the dogs aren't looking and then leave it for them to discover later.

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 1/5
We have the smaller version of the Caterpillar, and I can only fit a few kibbles in each segment. Way less than 1/4 cup.

Loading Speed: 2/5
I have to shove each treat in one by one, but not many fit so it doesn't really take long.

Photo by Erin Koski

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 3/5
My visiting cattledog friends often spent quite a while on this project without getting every treat out.

Unloading Speed (superdog): 2/5
Brisbane has to think about it a little, but he can empty the caterpillar out in a few minutes.

Size: 4/5
Ours is a medium, but the large caterpillar is over a foot long and 4" wide so it should be fine for very big dogs.

Durability: 5/5
This is made out of the same stuff as Cuz balls, so it can handle everything but a power chewer.

Noise: 5/5
The caterpillar is sturdy rubber, but not really heavy enough to make a ton of noise on our hardwood floors.

Locatability: 2/5
It rolls quite a bit and fits under the furniture so it is prone to disappearing.

Washability: 3/5
It's intended for dry treats so it doesn't get too dirty. It's actually not terrible to scrub out either. The only issue is drying it, there's no way to set it so the holes can all drain at once. I have to turn it a few times before it will dry out completely.

Versatility: 5/5
The size of this toy makes it suitable for a variety of animals. The caterpillar is also a favorite of our friend Xhuuya the raven, who loves to wrestle nuts out of the segments.

Total: 32/50

Puzzle Toy Review: Busy Buddy Squeak 'n Treat Booya

The Busy Buddy Booya is part of PetSafe's Squeak 'n Treat toy line. It is made from a durable, bouncy material and is designed to dispense treats randomly during play. This toy is dishwasher safe and comes in three sizes.

Photo by Erin Koski

Like several Busy Buddy toys, the Booya has flexible rubber fingers extending into the food opening. These can be trimmed to change the rate at which the food is dispensed. Of course, tiny kibbles are going to come out much faster than larger ones.

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 1/5
Maybe a quarter cup, this is definitely not a meal-feeding toy.

Loading Speed: 1/5
Most of the interior of this toy is taken up by the squeaker chamber, and there's not enough clearance in the treat chamber to use a funnel.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 3/5
It takes Xena a while to get the last treat out of the Booya.

Unloading Speed (superdog): 1/5
Brisbane is a pro at emptying this toy, he definitely enjoys it, though.

Size: 4/5
Ranging from 6-8" long, the three sizes of Booya should be usable by most dogs.

Durability: 5/5
Several users have reported that this toy outlasted their Kongs! Definitely one to try for destructive chewers, or at least dogs that rip out squeakers immediately.

Noise: 1/5
Sure it rolls quietly across the floor, but it also makes an unholy shrieking noise.

Locatability: 2/5
It rolls a bit, and the dogs like to carry it around. It's a bit bigger than a Kong, though.

Washability: 2/5
This is a hollow toy that is dishwasher safe, so it should be fairly cleanable. It's definitely not easy, though.

Versatility: 2/5
The squeak makes this toy fun for Xhuuya the raven, but it needs to be more easily washable before I'm willing to give it to someone who eats carrion as a hobby.

Total: 22/50

Puzzle Toy Review: Kong Genius Leo

The Kong Genius Leo is a roller-type puzzle toy shaped a bit like a bowling pin. It is made in the USA from natural rubber, and comes in three different sizes. Ours is the large size.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Kong Genius Leo was once originally sold as the Canine Genius Leo. The Kong Company bought the rights and hopefully made the Canine Genius people very successful.

There are two Kong Genius toys. The Leo is named after Leonardo DaVinci, and the Mike is named after Michelangelo. The Leo has a funnel-shaped top, and x-shaped openings at the bottom and on the side. Kibble can be loaded through the top and falls out as the dog rolls the toy around.

For a more difficult puzzle, the neck of the Leo can be shoved through one of the x-shaped openings in either the Mike toy or another Leo. This allows the kibble to fall freely between the toys. It also keeps the most vulnerable part of the Leo, the neck, safer from serious chewing.

Photo by Erin Koski

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 5/5
Provided I can keep it from falling out, I can fit a good cup of food in here.

Loading Speed: 4/5
I should be able to funnel tons of food in here in no time, but the size of kibble I use tends to just fall out the other openings if I'm not super careful.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 4/5
Darla can spend quite a while getting her 3/4 cup of kibble out of the Leo.

Photo by Erin Koski

Unloading Speed (superdog): 3/5
Briz would take a lot more time emptying the Leo if the holes weren't big enough for kibble to just fall out. I suspect our original Leo has slightly narrower holes.

Size: 5/5
Three sizes mean there is a Leo small enough for Ru and big enough for a really big dog. Our Large is supposed to be for dogs up to 40 pounds, but it sometimes feels a bit big for 40-pound Brisbane. The Extra Large is big enough for a really big dog.

Durability: 4/5
It's not made to be gnawed severely, but the Leo will stand up to pretty much anything else.

Noise: 4/5
It's hard enough to be a tad rattley on the hardwood when it's got a bunch of kibble in it, but it's not terrible.

Locatability: 4/5
That one flat side keeps it from rolling too far, and it's a pretty big toy.

Washability: 2/5
It doesn't open up and I can't see inside, but I can get a scrub brush in there.

Versatility: 3/5
It's big enough for a variety of critters to bat around, and to hold a variety of foods. The lack of washability somewhat limits what I'm willing to shove in there though.

Total: 38/50

Puzzle Toy Review: The OurPets IQ Treat Ball

The IQ Treat Ball by OurPets is a rolling puzzle toy. It features an adjustable difficulty level and comes in two sizes for larger and smaller dogs.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is a small but relatively complicated puzzle toy. The ball has two halves that unscrew from each other. The top is clear with a hole in the top and the bottom is opaque. Food is placed into the bottom chamber and must first fall through the adjustable hole in the white middle plate before it falls out the whole in the clear top of the ball.

Some of Brisbane's favorite roller toys are ones that require two steps to get the food out. This is why the Starmark Bob-a-Lot and the Busy Buddy Magic Mushroom are such challenging puzzles.

Photo by Erin Koski

OurPets is the company that currently owns both the Buster Cube and the Atomic Treat Ball, formerly known as the Molecuball.

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 3/5
The larger ball fits about half a cup of kibble.

Loading Speed: 4/5
Unscrew, fill, screw shut again.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 4/5
It takes a fair amount of rolling to get the food out.

Unloading Speed (superdog): 4/5
On the most difficult setting it does take Briz quite a while to get his daily ration of kibble out of the IQ Ball. As an added bonus, he can see the food as soon as it falls through the first hole.

Size: 2/5
This ball comes in two sizes, but they both seem to have the same size hole in the top. This hole is just the right size for Ru-sized dogs to get their lower jaws stuck inside. The instructions say the ball is only for dogs too small to fit it in their mouths, but the larger size is only 4" in diameter, so it is also not for very large dogs.

Durability: 4/5
Not indestructible, but tough enough to withstand anything short of a major chewer...provided the dog in question is not big enough to fit their mouth around the ball.

Noise: 1/5
This is a hard plastic ball, it will make horrible noises on hardwood. If I didn't have all hardwood floors I would probably rate it higher in this area. Hell, if I didn't have all hardwood floors I probably wouldn't even be considering noisemaking properties of puzzle toys.

Locatability: 1/5
At 4" in diameter, this toy is basically designed to fit under every piece of furniture I own. Is it hiding under the couch? The china hutch? The desk? The coffee table? The dresser? The possibilities are endless.

Washability: 5/5
Comes apart for easy scrubbing with no annoying bits.

Versatility: 4/5
The ball pictured here actually belongs to Xhuuya the raven, who enjoys flinging it, unscrewing it, and hiding the pieces.

Total: 32/50

Puzzle Toy Review: Planet Dog Orbee Tuff Bulb

The Planet Dog Orbee Tuff Bulb is a durable, stuffable rubber chew toy shaped like a bulb from a string of vintage Christmas lights. It is available in two colors and two sizes for largish and smallish dogs. The Orbee Tuff Bulb is made in the USA and comes with a 100% guarantee that I have not yet put to the test.

Photo by Erin Koski

I had been wanting one of these for years, and this one happily arrived in our December BarkBox. This is probably my favorite thing we've gotten in a BarkBox so far. It's basically made of nostalgia (and rubber) because it is shaped like the Christmas lights of my childhood.

Back in the 1980's, we didn't have all those fancy strands of mini lights. There were no animated three-dimensional lighted sculptures of reindeer and snowmen. Nope, back when I was a kid we all just had a single strand of these big fat bulbs adorning our houses every December. They weren't as big as the Orbee Tuff Bulb, but they were a heck of a lot bigger than the ones on all Christmas lights today. Even when I see "retro" Christmas lights now, they still aren't as big as the ones of my childhood, which are still sitting in a box in my parents' garage. Given that "things shaped like Christmas lights" are invariably shaped like those old bulbs, I'm certain this nostalgia is widespread.

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 4/5
I can fit nearly a cup of kibble in here, which is amazing for this type of toy.

Loading Speed: 4/5
A soda funnel speeds up the process quite a bit.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 4/5
The foster puppies spent close to an hour emptying the bulb.

Unloading Speed (superdog): 2/5
This puzzle is pretty easy for Brisbane to solve, but he still enjoys it.

Size: 5/5
The smaller size is small enough for Ru-sized dogs to use, and the larger one is big enough for a really big dog. The flexibility makes it easy for dogs on the smaller end of the spectrum to carry the bulb.

Durability: 3/5
Planet Dog gives the Orbee Tuff Bulb a three out of five rating for durability. It will stand up to an infinite amount of tossing and chomping, but a determined chewer can probably demolish it with little effort.

Noise: 5/5
Soft rubber means this toy is silent on my hard floors.

Locatability: 3/5
The non-spherical and non-cylindrical shape means the bulb doesn't roll freely. This mostly keeps it from disappearing under the furniture. Mostly. It's still small enough for Briz to pick up and carry though, so it ends up in his lair once in a while.

Washability: 2/5
The skinny neck of the bulb makes it pretty tough to get the inside clean, so I only put in dry treats like kibble. Occasionally I'll fill it with soapy water and shake it up before rinsing and drying. I haven't found anything on the Planet Dog website about their toys being dishwasher safe, and I have my concerns. I know one of our previous Orbee toys melted in the dishwasher, back when we lived in a house with a dishwasher.

Versatility: 4/5
The relatively long neck and flexibility of the bulb make it a challenging toy for various animals. We haven't tried giving it to Xhuuya the raven yet, though.

Total: 36/50

Puzzle Toy Review: Busy Buddy Twist 'n Treat

The Busy Buddy Twist 'n Treat is a roller-type treat-dispensing toy. It is made from durable rubber and comes in four sizes. This toy is also available in a softer rubber for teething puppies, and there is a cat version as well.

Photo by Erin Koski

The toy shown here is an extra small that we borrowed from Xhuuya the raven, we don't currently have one of our own. I did get one for my dearly departed cocker spaniel a few years before I got Brisbane, and that toy lasted us well over a decade before the rubber started to get a bit weird.

The Twist 'n Treat consists of two halves that screw together and come apart completely for easy cleaning. The toy can be filled with small treats and made more difficult by screwing it together tighter. I used to smear it with peanut butter and fill it with kibble.


Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 2/5
Our old medium-sized Twist 'n Treat held less than a quarter cup of kibble. I know the large holds more than that, but not a ton.

Loading Speed: 4/5
Untwist, dump food in, re-twist. It can be tough to get it closed when filled to max capacity, however.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 3/5
The peanut butter made it last a bit longer, but this was never a time-consuming project for Oakely.

Unloading Speed (superdog): 2/5
There was a reason I stopped using this long before it began to degrade.

Size: 5/5
Comes in Ru-sized all the way up to Doberman-sized.

Durability: 4/5
It'll stand up to all forms of flinging, squishing, and biting. Not hard chewing, though.

Noise: 5/5
Soft rubber means it can be bounced all over the hardwood without waking the neighbors.

Locatability: 1/5
It rolls, and the medium was small enough to fit under most furniture. Was often found in Brisbane's lairs.

Washability: 5/5
Unscrews all the way for easy scrubbing. Also top rack dishwasher safe.

Versatility: 5/5
The various sizes and flexibility of this toy make it good for a variety of creatures. Premier markets it for dogs and cats, it is also raven-approved and could potentially be used for enrichment for a variety of animals. The fact that it can be unscrewed gives it huge potential, and it has no hard parts of sharp edges.

Total: 36/50

Puzzle Toy Review: Kong Genius Mike

The Kong Genius Mike is one of two durable rubber roller puzzle toys in the Kong Genius toy line. It consists of a ribbed tube with cross-shaped openings in either end. The Kong Genius Mike can be combined with two Kong Genius Leo toys for an even more challenging puzzle. It is available in assorted colors and three sizes, small for dogs up to 20 pounds, large for dogs 15-40 pounds, and extra large for dogs over 35 pounds.

Photo by Erin Koski

Once upon a time, seven or eight years ago, Brisbane had a Canine Genius Leo toy. He was never that interested in it because he doesn't like to chomp on tough rubber toys, and one day he began actively avoiding it. I'm not sure what happened, but I assume he had some sort of bad experience. I eventually gave it to a friend. I was quite surprised when the Kong Genius toys hit the shelves of my local Petco a few years later, because I definitely remembered the toy being made by an independent company and not by Kong. The Canine Genius website is still up, but most of the links redirect elsewhere now.

I find the size recommendations on these kind of ridiculous. Our Mike toy is a Large, which puts Brisbane at the very top of the recommended range, and Uly over it. The XL is enormous, and I think the boys would enjoy the Small size more. They bat these around and roll them across the floor, but nobody is gnawing it. I cannot imagine a 25-pound dog being able to do anything but roll this toy around, they definitely couldn't compress it enough to get anything bigger than kibble out.

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 5/5
I can fit at least a cup of food in here, maybe two.

Loading Speed: 3/5
It should totally work with a bottle funnel, except that the food falls out the other side immediately. I can either jam a few larger treats in there (which I will have to pry out later because the dogs can't get them) or attempt to wedge the funnel in the opening while holding the toy at an angle and...nope.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 5/5
It takes Uly something like 15 minutes or more to get half a cup of kibble out.

Unloading Speed (superdog): 4/5
Brisbane is adept at emptying the toy and figuring out which treats cannot be removed without brute force, but it still takes him a good while to get even a few treats out.

Size: 4/5
I really think the size limits on these things are too cautious and I would have no problem giving my dogs the small size for dogs under 20 pounds. The XL toys are just huge. According to the size chart there should be Kong Genius toys for every size of dog, but the small feels too big for toy breeds.

Durability: 5/5
This toy probably can't handle extended chewing by a dedicated dog, but the durable rubber should stand up to quite a bit of gnawing.

Noise: 5/5
This toy is intended to roll, but the rubber makes it quiet on my raised foundation and hardwood floors. The dogs don't tend to fling it, and they are silent when emptying it inside a crate.

Locatability: 3/5
Rolls, fits under furniture, and small enough to carry. I haven't lost it yet because I keep pretty close tabs on food toys right now, but it's only a matter of time.

Washability: 4/5
Dishwasher safe (grumble grumble) and a bottle brush and some soap work too. This toy is intended for kibble so it shouldn't get too gross anyway.

Hoardability: 4/5
Small enough to carry, Brisbane likes to take this to a bed to empty.

Total: 42/50

Puzzle Toy Review: Planet Dog Mazee Ball

The Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff Mazee Ball is a roller-type puzzle toy. This is a step up from the basic ball-with-a-hole food dispenser, with a clear rubber outside that allows the dog to see the treats rattling around in the hard plastic inner maze. It's not a terribly difficult puzzle, so it's a great way to introduce the concept of pushing stuff around to make food happen. This is my new favorite puzzle toy for Ulysses now that he has mastered the Orbee ball with the big hole. We call it the Amazeball.

Photo by Erin Koski

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 5/5
I can fit at least two cups of kibble in here. None of my dogs eats anywhere near two cups of kibble.

Loading Speed: 4/5
I can dump food in pretty darned quick with a soda bottle funnel, but I can't just scoop it directly into the toy.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 4/5
Ulysses can spend twenty minutes or more getting half a cup of kibble out of this toy.

Unloading Speed (superdog): 2/5
Brisbane takes slightly more time to unload the Amazeball than it takes me to unload it by turning it upside down and shaking it.

Size: 5/5
Big enough to be enjoyed by giant breeds, light enough to not crush toy dogs.

Durability: 4/5
The Amazeball isn't meant to be chewed, but will survive a bit of chomping and an infinite amount of rolling across the floor.

Noise: 5/5
The soft rubber outside of the Amazeball makes it amazeballs for hardwood floors. Silence, glorious silence.

Locatability: 4/5
It's a bit big for Brisbane to carry around, and it doesn't fit under most furniture.

Washability: 2/5
The Amazeball can be cleaned by filling it with hot water and shaking it. A bit of nontoxic dish soap probably wouldn't hurt. There's no way I'm getting a scrub brush in there, but at least the clear outside lets me see if there's anything really vile inside.

Hoardability: 2/5
Once it's empty, it's dead. This isn't really a crate toy, it's made to be rolled around on the floor. Sometimes Brisbane will choose to roll it around on a bed, though.

Total: 37/50