Buddy Ball

[pbjmaker]

I have heard a couple of you mention something called a buddy ball or something along that line.

Is this what you are talking about?

http://www.jefferspet.com/busy-buddy-kibble-nibble/p/J9-K9/

I am looking for something for one of our puppies( Sparky, almost 6 months). He is shall we say - extremely aware of any food that exists in the world.

He doesn't gulp his food down, but always wants more. We measure out how much they get per day and give them so long to eat in the morning. Once they seem done it gets put up and the rest is given to them later in the day. Every dog has their own bowl and own "spot" they eat at, although there is reasonable sharing sometimes.

He Knows where the bowl is and will spend half the day barking at it or whining. Or if his is gone and he smells the bichon's food (she is a slow eater and needs 2 meals to get done) he will whine at that.

He is not remotely underweight nor underfed. He just

food.

Anywho - back to the buddy ball thing. I am wondering if this would be a good thing for him. It would occupy him and he would still be getting his kibble. I could put just some of his food in it, and the rest in a bowl. We already take bowls and put them upside down with treats under them for them to hunt for.

Don't even get me started on trying to train his with treats - he is so over -motivated by food he forgets everything else and just focuses on the fact that you have food.

 

[Godsgrl]

I think it would be a good idea for your dog. Would you have to worry about food aggression with your other dog? I am planning on getting one for my pup, just to keep her mind occupied. I'll have to split my dogs up, though, and probably give Grouch a filled kong to chew. Good luck!

 

[pbjmaker]

He does guard food a bit from the other dogs. But not in a teeth showing mean kind of way - just plants his body to block anyone else from getting it. But when we hide treats under bowls they all "play" nicely. Last night he did plop his fattyness among all the grocery bags we had brought in and low growled at any of the other dogs that came near. Apparently he thought we bought all that food for him...

He gets neutered on Tuesday - am going to talk to the vet about this whole obsession.
He has been this way since day 1 - would whine and whine until he got a teat. His orginal name was Whiney.

ETA: What do you use in your Kong? I won't buy the Kong treats because they are ridiculous in price so we often just put some peanut butter in the one we have. They do all share that.

 

[Godsgrl]

I use peanut butter, dog food, and perhaps some scraps from dinner. Something like pork chops or some hamburger. Or even some treats from the treat jar. I have never tried the "kong filling" either, because we have plenty of goodies around the house!