Food dispensing toys have become a big part of our lives since cutting Athena off from her food bowl cold turkey seven months ago. Each and every morning, Athena eats her breakfast out of a toy and each and every evening, she eats her dinner out of another toy. Depending on our schedules and Athenas need for entertainment, she might also receive a food dispensing toy filled with a snack during the day as well. Since incorporating daily mental stimulation into Athenas routine, she has become a much more calm and relaxed dog.
Because we feed all meals out of food dispensing toys, it is important to us that we rotate the toys often to keep Athena entertained and challenged. This means that weve accumulated a boat load of different toys. While some of them have been flops, we have quite a long list of toys that we absolutely love and recommend.
We looked at our favorites and rated them using the following criteria. However, Athena had the final say in the order of the top ten!
Heres our top ten list of favorite food dispensing toys (counting down to the #1 best toy!):
#10 StarMark Bob-a-Lot
Difficulty: 4 paws
Durability: 2 paws
Ease of Use: 1 paw
Storage Size: 3 paws
Price: ($15.89 for size large)
The StarMark Bob-a-Lot was Athenas very first food dispensing toy. As you can see from the picture, it has many indents and scratches from Athenas teeth as she learned how to maneuver the toy. Because this toy is made from such hard plastic, the scratches have caused Athena to get a few nicks on her nose that have now scarred. We do love that this toy has two openings (one on the top and one on the side) and that the difficulty can be changed. However, it isnt as easy to fill with food and it doesnt open up to allow for a thorough cleaning.
#9 Kong Satellite
Difficulty: 3 paws
Durability: 3 paws
Ease of Use: 1 paw
Storage Size: 3 paws
Price: ($7.99)
We recently wrote an entire review of the new Kong Satellite (see it here). We love its unique shape which provides Athena with a different experience than the usual "nose bopping" toy. However, this toy is a bit difficult to fill with food and treats which also makes it tough to thoroughly clean.
#8 Kong Wobbler
Difficulty: 1 paw
Durability: 4 paws
Ease of Use: 4 paws
Storage Size: 3 paws
Price: ($13.57 for size large)
We love the Kong Wobbler for how easy it is to fill with kibble because it unscrews at the middle. This also makes it very easy to thoroughly clean. The material of the Wobbler is excellent quality making it extremely durable. A major downside to the Kong Wobbler is that there is no way to change the difficulty, meaning that this is a very easy food dispenser for Athena.
#7 Buster Food Cube
Difficulty: 2 paws
Durability: 3 paws
Ease of Use: 2 paws
Storage Size: 2 paws
Price: ($17.50 for size large)
Although a bit pricey, the Buster Food Cube is a hit with Athena. She loves to swat this toy all around the house hoping for her kibble to fall out. Unfortunately there isnt a way to change the difficulty on this toy, but it is rather challenging as is.
#6 PetSafe Premier Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble
Difficulty: 3 paws
Durability: 3 paws
Ease of Use: 4 paws
Storage Size: 4 paws
Price: ($13.74 for size large)
This toy has quite the kibble capacity and is unique in how its difficulty is changed. Kibble is dispensed from either end of the egg shaped toy, and each opening has plastic prongs that can be cut out depending on how difficult you want the toy to be for your dog. As of now, we havent cut any prongs from the toy and it has remained EXTREMELY challenging for Athena (just the way we like it)!
#5 Omega Paw Tricky Treat Ball
Difficulty: 2 paws
Durability: 3 paws
Ease of Use: 3 paws
Storage Size: 3 paws
Price: ($9.71 for size large)
This treat dispensing toy makes it to the top five of our list because Athena is totally obsessed with it! She probably loves it so much because its a ball, but we love it because Athena not only receives mental stimulation, but she also physically exercises with this one. The toy is fairly easy to fill, although not as easy to wash out. Another bonus of this toy is that it is nearly silent when Athena rolls it around because of its soft rubber material (perfect for hardwood floors!).
#4 Kong Extreme
Difficulty: 4 paws
Durability: 4 paws
Ease of Use: 3 paws
Storage Size: 3 paws
Price: ($14.03 for size extra large)
Its probably no surprise that the Kong makes it to the top of our list of food dispensing toys. Athena would do anything to have a Kong a day to keep the doctor away. What makes the Kong Extreme so great is its mega durability (for Athena anyway, I know some dogs have been known to chomp the tops right off of this toy!). We usually only offer Athena a frozen Kong that has been stuffed with a Kibble mixture. See the post we did on Kong stuffing recipes here.
#3 Ethical Contempo Tessa
Difficulty: 4 paws
Durability: 4 paws
Ease of Use: 3 paws
Storage Size: 3 paws
Price: ($14.99)
At one point in time the Contempo Tessa was our number one favorite food dispensing toy. As weve grown our collection, it has been surpassed by a couple, but still remains one of our favorites for its unique design and ability to change the difficulty. We love that this food dispenser has two food dispensing chambers that make it that much more challenging for Athena. It is also fairly easy to fill and clean.
#2 Kong Stuff-a-Ball
Difficulty: 4 paws
Durability: 4 paws
Ease of Use: 4 paws
Storage Size: 4 paws
Price: ($10.07 for size large)
Yet another Kong product makes it to our top ten list! This is similar to the Kong Extreme, but Athena especially enjoys its ball shape. Our favorite thing about this particular Kong is how much food we can stuff inside before freezing it. Its also easier to stuff than the Kong Extreme and less expensive =)
#1 PetSafe Busy Buddy Magic Mushroom
Difficulty: 4 paws
Durability: 4 paws
Ease of Use: 4 paws
Storage Size: 4 paws
Price: ($16.10 for size large)
The Magic Mushroom is our number one favorite food dispensing toy! Athena has loved this toy for many months and still has such gusto when playing with it. As you can see from the above picture, the mushroom has taken quite a beating, but it is still in great working order. Athena absolutely loves flinging this toy all around the house by carrying it around in her mouth (notice all of the teeth marks). She also gets excited and will swat it around with her paws. Its easy to change the difficulty of this toy and its also easy to fill and clean.
But wait, theres more!:
Of course we dont only own ten food dispensing toys (because clearly we are food dispensing toy hoarders). Here are a few more toys that we love, but didnt quite make the top ten:
Busy Buddy Twist n Treat
Smarter Toys IQ Treat Ball
StarMark Treat Dispensing Chew Ball
Kong Genius Mike
Kong Dental Toy
Kong Dental Toy
PetSafe Busy Buddy Barnacle
Jolly Pets Monster Mouth
We also have a few toys that were major flops, but well save that discussion for another day!
Have you retired your dogs food bowl yet? What are your dogs favorite food dispensing toys?
*All prices are directly from Amazon.com
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