Alternatives To A Peanut Butter Filled Kong?

[Guest iLoveLucie]

We've been working on "alone time" training with Lucie since we brought her home 2 months ago. We have a good routine and she gets SUPER excited anytime we pull out her Kong stuffed with treats (usually peanut butter + cheerios, but she likes cream cheese too) which she only gets when she's going to be left alone. She goes right into her crate and barely acknowledges us when we leave (or when we get back if she still has anything left).

 

I'm thinking we can start leaving her alone longer if we leave more than 1 Kong but I'm worried too much peanut butter would not be a good thing for - it makes her pretty gassy.

 

Any good suggestions on other yummy treats we can stuff in her Kong to keep her happy and busy when we have to leave her at home?

[Guest FreddyGirl]

mozzarella stick cut up into pieces, vanilla yogurt and itty bitty training treats, frozen, of course. I also use applesauce when out of yogurt.

[RedFawnMom]

We used fat free cream cheese to cut down on the amount of sugar she was getting from the PB when we were doing a lot of alone training. As a super duper treat when we were first starting the training, we filled the kong/bone with a mix of cream cheese and tuna fish She LOVED it. It's doggy crack!

[RobinM]

i never gave them pb in a kong. Too many calories and way too much fat. We gave som kibble (and that much less at a meal )with broken up cookies mixed in. To "Seal" the top would be a token smear of the low fat PB (maybe the size of a pinky finger nail) and that's it.

 

 

they loved it and maintained their svelte look. I would hate to pack the pounds on my hounds and then have to force them to diet.

 

So, I really try to keep them on track so to speak and it's worked for us.

[Guest Wasserbuffel]

When working on alone training with my girl I would simply stuff the Kong with part of her breakfast dry and wet mixed then seal it with a cap of peanut butter (About a tablespoon) and freeze it.

 

After a while I was able to just stuff it with as much dry food as would fit and give it to her. It didn't occupy her very long at that point, but by then she was better about us leaving.

 

To occupy her for short periods of time I like to smear a little bit of meat baby food inside. I tried peanut butter but it was a pain to wash out because it's so oily, she's able to get most of the baby food and what resudue is left comes out nicely.

[Guest WhenIGiveIn]

We use either, peanut butter, canned spray cheese or yogurt mixed with "special" dog food. Generally samples I have picked up of a different brand of dog food than they are used to. Its something new so its exciting to eat but not tons of treats. I have also sliced up hotdogs and stuffed them in there. Always freeze them and they last way longer.

 

For cleaning get a bottle brush and it gets anything stuck in there out or soak them and your good to go.

 

Then again when I took Sophie to the GEM event when she was only 3 months old she also got left overs from everyones plate at the table stuffed into her kong when I forgot a back up lol. She finished the first one way to fast so there was pasta, chicken, bread, carrots you know whatever lol. A happy puppy is a good puppy!

[Guest DoofBert]

we used kibble some raw carrots, maybe some apple and little low fat cream cheese to cover the hole!

 

Applesauce is a good idea too -- you can also freeze the stuffed kong for that popsicle effect. (Warning -- this can be messy)

[Guest kydie]

I do give PB in a kong, frozen,, but anything you can freeze,, cheese, yougurt,, cream cheese, last nights meatloaf,,, anything that I can freeze goes in

[Guest Bang_o_rama]

Maybe go the BK route; a couple of slabs of fried chicken with a layer of PB in between, wrapped in bacon and tied together with licorice shoelaces.

~D~

[Guest Ola]

I never actually filled the Kong with PB, just spread a teaspoon's worth around the edges. So you can try using less, or cream cheese is another option as mentioned. I've also used liverwurst (got it in a sausage-like tube in the deli-meat section) which was a big hit. Canned dog food is another option for wet stuff. You can also mix canned and dry together, or even moisten dry food and stuff that in, then top it with a bit of a treat.

[Guest ChasesMum]

Maybe go the BK route; a couple of slabs of fried chicken with a layer of PB in between, wrapped in bacon and tied together with licorice shoelaces.

~D~

 

Chase would think she had died and gone to houndie-heaven!

 

 

we don't do kongs anymore, but I do remember when we got her 7 years ago I used to put raisins in hers. No one told me they were toxic! apparently she has a high tolerance.

 

anyways... things like cheerios, puffed wheat, puffed rice, etc mixed with something wet works well (like wet food, pb, yogurt - any freezables in the above posts)

[FiveRoooooers]

We do kibble mixed with (formerly canned) and now mama's home cooking, sealed with peanut butter. We also make potato stuffin' kongs - - boil up some mostly peeled potatoes, smash, add in some cheese/kibble/peanut butter/cut up hot dogs/whatever your hound likes, and then freeze. The potatoes are inexpensive and keep them busy for a good amount of time. You can fill butcher bones with this mixture too.

[Guest iLoveLucie]

Great ideas! Many of these things I already have in my kitchen. Some sound pretty gross (tuna and cream cheese - yick!) but if it will keep Lucie occupied when she's home alone I am all for it!

 

Does anyone have suggestions about a good "alone training" treat for chewing? We give Lucie a rawhide bone about once a week, but we will always supervise that. Is there something similar that would be safe to leave her alone with? I bought a nylabone, but she just doesn't seem interested....

[Guest hlpnhounds]

We use eaither peanut butter and kibble or.....a new favorite here is mashed banana and kibble sealed with a milkbone. Sometimes we freeze them but most times I'm making them as I'm going out the door.

When I could find pumpkin I would fill the kongs with 1/2 pumpkin and 1/2 vanilla yogurt sealed at both ends with a small treat and then freeze them. YUMMY !!!

[arandomchic]

We mix it up. One day PB, one day plain yogurt, one day lowfat cream cheese. That way it's always a surprise for her and she never gets bored.

 

Lately we've done a mixture and so far it's her favorite! I mix some plain yogurt (we use greek because it's thicker, and it's what I eat, too) with a little Peanut Butter and add about a tablespoon of honey. Then in addition to the 1/4 of kibble, we put in some banana slices, then top with the yogurt mixture.

 

Her second favorite is kibble with a scoop of pumpkin (I have them pre-frozen in 1tbsp scoops) followed by plain yogurt.

 

I bought a nylabone, but she just doesn't seem interested....

 

Try smearing the nylabone in something yummy. It took Molly a bit to get used to it, but now we find her randomly chewing on it.

[Guest GoingRogue]

We put kibble in the kong with PB. Another great treat is pig ears. Rogue will sit for hours working on a pig ear. Also, the marrow femur bones that are stuffed are great. He doesn't chew on them just works for hours trying to lick the stuffing out. They come with PB stuffing, liver stuffing, or cheese and bacon stuffing. We buy them from Petsmart but Petco sales them also.

If you do get a marrow bone, make sure your grey doesn't chew the bone before you leave it with her. They can splinter if chewed. Rogue has never chewed any of the ones we have given him (we have several hollowed marrow bones, he could care less about them when they are empty).

[shawna]

Have you tried the Jif Simply Peanut butter? Its less sugar and less additives. Also there's yogurt, kibble, cheese, broken up cookies, and carrots. I freeze everything so that it lasts longer.

[Guest iLoveLucie]

We put kibble in the kong with PB. Another great treat is pig ears. Rogue will sit for hours working on a pig ear. Also, the marrow femur bones that are stuffed are great. He doesn't chew on them just works for hours trying to lick the stuffing out. They come with PB stuffing, liver stuffing, or cheese and bacon stuffing. We buy them from Petsmart but Petco sales them also.

If you do get a marrow bone, make sure your grey doesn't chew the bone before you leave it with her. They can splinter if chewed. Rogue has never chewed any of the ones we have given him (we have several hollowed marrow bones, he could care less about them when they are empty).

 

We have given Lucie smoked pig ears and she loves them. I wasn't sure if they were safe to leave with her when she's home alone - the seem sorta rawhide-like. Do you leave Rogue home alone with the pig ears?

 

I am going to head to Petsmart today to find some stuffed marrow femur bones and see how she does with those - thanks for that idea.

[teri_d]

our greys don't care too much for kongs, but our daughter has a chihuahua that LOVES his kongs - she gets recipes off the kong website! she also has a 'kong machine' for him that she uses while she is at work - it looks like a little flying saucer and holds 4-6 (i can't remember exactly) kongs - she loads it in the am and sits it on the kitchen floor - then every so often it makes this sound - a door opens and a kong rolls out!!! it is hilarious! we have been there when he is playing in the living room - all of a sudden his ears perk up and he runs to the kitchen to retrieve his kong - very funny!!