Last week I wrote a review about the Classic Kong dog training toy. Which I rated 5/5 and personally think is an essential toy for any dog owner.
Continuing the theme of brain games for dogs, the next product I'll be reviewing is the Iquties bone hide feeder.
The feeder is made from hard plastic which makes it easy to clean but makes me a little nervous when I see the green caps in Max's mouth. One good chomp and I have no doubt that they would shatter. Because of this I try to fill it with dry biscuits so that no food gets stuck in them and supervise him while he uses it.
The idea is the holes in the caps allow the dog to be able to smell which ones contain food and focus on lifting them to get at the food inside. Looking at this toy I imagined Max pushing it around with his nose, maybe even pawing at the caps. The reality was a little disappointing.
As you can see, Max's mouth is large enough to fit around the cap and lift with zero difficulty, negating the entire point of a puzzle feeder.
I tried filling just one section with food to see if he would use his nose to find it but he found it quicker and easier to just lift every cap to see what was underneath.
Because of this, if you own a large dog I absolutely do not recommend this puzzle feeder. It's essentially a food bowl with more pieces to clean.
If you have a very small dog I can imagine they could have more difficulty lifting the caps and would love to hear from anyone that has had success with this feeder.
In the meanwhile I'm tempted to give this feeder a go with my cat...
There appear to be several brands that sell identical versions of this toy, all selling for roughly £10. However I managed to find mine in B&M for £5.