8 Awesome Enrichment Toys Your Dog Will Love
Our dog’s happiness relies on more than simply physical stimulation. In fact, dogs need a lot of mental stimulation, too, to stave off boredom and negative behaviors!
Imagine if all you did every single day was stare at the wall with boredom or repeat the same mundane tasks—you’d be pretty unhappy and destructive, too.
As a Dog Photographer, I love helping my clients learn how to help their pups be happier and healthier and this post is no exception.
So, here you’ll find some of the best dog enrichment toys your pup will love (from my pup’s own favorite to yours)!
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Without, further ado, let’s get to the good stuff!
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MAGIC MUSHROOM TOY
I’m including this one first, because it’s my dog’s favorite! She loves knocking and tossing this thing magical mushroom around the house to get all of the treats out of it! This one comes in two sizes. Pictured here is the smaller size, which does great even for our 45 pound pup! But if you have a larger pup, you can definitely upgrade to the bigger size, which holds more food.
This one is a bit tricker than the Kong Wobbler you’ll see below, so I recommend it for dogs who really want to and enjoy working for their food. But, all in all, this one is a total winner and I think every dog should have one of these to keep them entertained.
Oh, licky mat, how I love thee! Let me tell you—create a concoction to smear on this and freeze it (for us, sugar free peanut butter, organic pumpkin, and cinnamon is a sure win!). That will guarantee your pup at least a solid 30-45 minutes of pure pleasure and enrichment.
This is one of the only things that will keep our Boxer mix entertained for a very long extended period of time allowing us to get some thing’s done and her happy with her little special treat. It’s especially great during the hot summer!
Like the Magic Mushroom above, you can get these in different sizes and styles, but we’ve had this one for five plus years now and it has more than paid for itself.
Just be sure to wash it thoroughly after each use in the dishwasher to keep it from getting gross and moldy.
Listen, not all toys are created equal. But, not all toys are also heathy for our dogs. In fact, many commercially manufactured stuffed dog toys are made from polyester fabrics—a derivative of plastic—and dyed with commercial dyes that are made by using harsh, toxic chemicals. In other words, not healthy for your dog to be ingesting at all.
After we lost our pup to cancer, we realized that maybe it could’ve been prevented. Perhaps it was genetic or perhaps it was the Tuffy toys he loved so much, even though he didn’t eat them, chewing on them was likely enough to cause issues.
Anyhow, that’s when we learned about Tall Tail’s Leather Toys. They are made from all natural cowhide and dyed with vegetable dyes meaning they are all natural and much better for your pup.
Now, I will say they can be a bit pricier than some standard stuffed toys, BUT the leather really takes a lot of time to soften and wear down meaning hours upon hours of chewing and gnawing bliss for your pup. To me, the price point makes more sense when you consider how much enrichment your dog will get from just one Tall Tail’s toy.
Our Tully is a BIG chewer and the Tall Tail’s Bone I’m showing below is a few hours of her working on it with plenty more to go. We also have the Tall Tail’s Ring Toy and just picked up the Tall Tail’s Fox. So, if you are able to spend a little bit more for a high quality toy, I highly recommend these.
Another treat dispensing toy that is a bit easier than the Magic Mushroom Toy mentioned above! Our Tully picked up on it right away and in fact, loves getting part of her breakfast and dinner in the wobbler, which she then proceeds to mess with until the kibble is gone.
In fact, I’d recommend this toy to dog parents whose dogs maybe aren’t the best at solving puzzles, but need a simpler, easier enrichment toy to keep their pup’s entertained or elongate meal times for those quick-eaters.
All in all—the Kong Wobbler is a great, classic, and virtually (almost) non-destructive enrichment toy your dog will have hours of fun with!
This one is less of a toy, but more of a mental enrichment exercise and helps those pups who inhale their food (like ours) to slow down and enjoy mealtime. This makes Tully think about her meal versus simply scarfing it down.
You could also fill it with goodies or treats throughout the day when you need to keep them preoccupied for a few minutes for rainy day enrichment or the like.
Again, you can find slow feeder bowl in a variety of shapes and sizes, but we’ve used this one for several of our pup’s and fosters over the years and it does the trick just fine. I’d recommend ordering it online versus in-store as it’s definitely more expensive at the higher-end pet stores.
As you can see here, we don’t have this one currently (because my Lucy started getting it in thirty seconds flat!) and have since gifted this one to other dog parents, but let me tell you—Nina Ottoson Puzzle toys are a game changer for your dog!
She has many different puzzle toy options to choose from like this intermediate Hide-n-Slide puzzle game you see below! Depending on your dog, they range from beginner to advanced and can really challenge your dog to think, work, and problem solve on their own, which I absolutely love.
Not all dogs are as good at problem solving, like our Sox, but if your dog is really into figuring things out for themselves, they will adore having puzzles to work on.
Get them on Amazon as they are the most cost effective there.
Yes, another treat dispensing toy, but this one is definitely different from the other two I’ve shared.
In fact, this cube is the hardest of the three I’ve recommended and frustrates Tully at times because the treats don’t come out easily enough. That’s right—this one is ideal for dogs who catch on to things too quickly. The shape and way of dispensing prevent the kibble from pouring out like it does in the Kong Wobbler.
I wouldn’t recommend this toy for every pup as some might get bored at the fact that the kibble dispenses less, but if your dog needs to be challenged, this should be right up their alley. And it’s a pretty good deal for a toy you’ll get a lot of use out of!
Who doesn’t love the classic rubber Kong? You can stuff it with food, toss it in the backyard, bounce it around the house, or use it as a meal time enrichment toy—the many uses are great. We’ve done all of the above.
But, I prefer to give my dogs the Senior version of the rubber kong given that the rubber is a bit more malleable for my senior pup.
This one also comes in various sizes and colors, but is great to stuff with sugar free peanut butter and freeze for a fun afternoon activity or to keep them entertained while you are entertaining.
Every dog parent should have a kong in the cubbard as it is a versatile toy that is extremely economical and depending on the strength of their chewing, will last you a long time.
