“Dog Fighter” Toy Review
August 1st, 2008
Filed in: Uncategorized
Think there’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to dog toys? Think again. I’ve never seen anything quite like this wooden dog toy puzzle … Zeke and Sum are in love with it.
Doesn’t look too impressive, does it? I mean, how can a wooden peg toy that looks like it belongs in a child psychologist’s office be any fun for dogs?
Well, for starters, the goodies help.
The object of the game is for the dog to figure out how to remove the pegs from the board and get to the treats underneath. That’s not as easy as it sounds, though. (Chewing through the wood isn’t an option.) Take a second look at the tracks the pegs are sitting in … the dogs have to actually move the peg, with nose or paws, from the narrow end to the rounded end of the track, and then flip the peg out in order to get to the treat.
Impossible!
Yeah I thought the same thing the first time I broke it out for my guys. I had a feeling that Zeke would eventually get it (days or weeks later), but I worried that Sum wouldn’t be able to. Well, I’m happy to report that my dogs schooled me, big time!
Both Zeke and Sum mastered it within 10 minutes. They’re so good at it now that they can both clean the entire puzzle out in under 30-seconds! I actually teared up watching them figure it out because I’m a huge, sappy sucker. My dogs are clever!
Even though they can work through the puzzle quickly now, they still adore playing with it. Zeke makes little strangled cries when he sees me loading it up. He attacks it with gusto:
Sum uses the deadly one-two punch of nose …
… and those lethal boxer paws:
They even figured out how to get the “stopper” peg out (Zeke’s nose is right next to it in the photo below)… it’s bigger than the other pegs and it locks the sliding peg in place. The only way to remove it is to lift it straight out:
It’s amazing to watch them think through the puzzle - it’s a great mental workout for them. It doesn’t require much space, and after two repetitions, both of my guys are panting from the brain strain! We love it.
Big thanks to Paw Lickers for letting us give the toy a try … check out the “Dog Fighter” and the rest of the Nina Ottosson line of interactive dog toys. Next on our list? The “Dog Pyramid“!
