Pixel Reviews: The King of Kong

When discussing boredom breakers and toys, for dogs, you are almost certain to hear one name over all the others; Kong. As a company, Kong has successfully carved out their niche in the market, they achieved this through creating fun and durable boredom breakers and toys; for many the name Kong is synonymous with the word tough. Over six months Pixel has acquired a number of Kong products and we have decided to present them all in one large review.

Pixel's Kong Collection

Kong Classic

The Kong Classic is exactly that. Like many, we purchased the rounded red rubber cone as a boredom breaker, something to give to Pixel to stimulate him, especially when being left at home alone. Once filled with something delicious, the Kong Classic will provide Pixel with a happy distraction when we leave the house. Typically we use pâté although we also have a can of Kong Stuff'n (which has a great shelf life and is fantastic in a bind).

The problem with the Kong Classic is that it is just too simple for Pixel to get the treats out. Ultimately he loses interests in the Classic after about ten minutes or so (as opposed to the zee.dog Super Toys that can hold is attention for a half hour or over).

Kong Quest Bone

This blue rubber bone is a more challenging treat feeder than the Classic, with a central section for the Kong Stuff'n and four smaller holes, perfect for treats that can be difficult for the dog to get to. With the correct combination of treats, the Quest Bone can keep Pixel interested for twenty minutes and sometimes longer.

The Quest Bone however is not as durable as the Classic and if your dog is a heavy chewer this might not last that long.

Kong Wobbler

This heavy duty, plastic, weeble-like feeder is a fantastic way to prevent your dog from gulping their food, as well as providing a stimulating meal. Pixel happily walks around a room, violently batting the Wobbler with his paws, sending it spinning across the floor and scattering the food randomly about. The Wobbler is by no means a toy, and will remain unloved in the corner of a room when not being used for a meal (apart from the occasional inquisitive nudge to make sure it is empty). If you don't wish to feed your dog their meals from the Wobbler, you can easily use it for treats and watch as your dog works for the food they love.

The biggest drawback to this fun feeder is that it can be very loud. Pixel takes great enjoyment in throwing it against wardrobes, walls, and door frames. While our house has remained unmarked by the toy, the resulting bang can be a little noisy.

(For a comparative review with other "Fun Feeders", see Pixel Reviews: Fun Feeders)

Kong Bounzer

The Kong Bounzer is a large, hollow, rubber toy that is meant to be thrown for your dog to chase outside. We purchased this toy before we knew that Pixel didn't like chasing toys outside so the Bounzer sat in a cupboard for the first six months. Then one day when I was swapping around the toys that Pixel has access to, I decided to throw it inside and Pixel practically exploded with excitement. Since then the Bounzer has become one of Pixel's favorite toy. He enjoys the way that is bounces erratically around the house, the way he can chew on the handle and he loves that when you squeeze it, it blows out air. A word of warning however, if you do decided to purchase a Bounzer for indoor use, watch out for anything that might be breakable.

Kong Cozie Elmer

We bought this bright pink elephant toy as a Christmas present for Pixel and he immediately took to it. Originally this toy had wonderfully soft fur that Pixel took great pleasure in chewing on. The toy seems well made and is tough enough to survive the gentle tugging and playing which Pixel gives. Coming with one small squeaker, the Cozie provides Pixel with light weight toy to throw about the room. While this toy is one of Pixel's favorite soft toys, I think this is due to the Cozie's soft fur which is entirely subjective for each dog. All that said, I feel that the toy might not survive dogs that deliberately set out to kill their soft toys.

Pixel Reviews: Fun Feeders

When we first met Pixel he was bouncing off of the walls. He was all energy and unused intelligence. With this in mind we set out to find ways to exhaust him and entertain him at every opportunity and one way we achieved this is through making Pixel work for his food.

Kong Wobbler

The Kong Wobbler was the first feeder we picked up. The large, red, plastic weeble is an easy way to introduce some stimulation to your dog's meal time. Pixel uses his paws to bat around the Wobbler which sends it spinning and food scattering. Pixel then gets the fun of searching around the room every piece of kibble that he sent flying.

The Wobbler also provides a fantastic way of feeding your dogs that prevents them from gulping down their food. Instead the dog is fed a small amount of food (in our case roughly four or five pieces of kibble with each bat).

The Wobbler, which unscrews at the middle, is incredibly easy to clean, you can simply wipe it with a damp cloth after each feeding and it will remain clean and tidy. From the perspective of the owner there are two clear disadvantages to feeding with the Wobbler. The first of these is that the Wobbler can be very noisy, Pixel regularly sends it spinning into a wall or door-frame (although this leaves no marks) which creates a loud bang. The Wobbler is also quite heavy, it is weighted to always ensure it is self-righting, but it does mean it can be awkward if you travel regularly and you want to take a way of feeding your dog with you.

Slo-Bowl Flower

After the first month of owning Pixel and he had settled into a comfortable routine, he began to gulp his food. We would use the Wobbler regularly but if we wanted to feed the dog early in the morning we felt self-conscious about the noise it makes so I went and purchased the Slo-Bowl.

The Slo-Bowl Flower feeder is an easy way to prevent Pixel from gulping his food. We pour the kibble into the bowl, Pixel then has to use his tongue to navigate the food around the maze to push it to a place where he can easily eat the food. There are several varieties of Slo-Bowl, including their being two sizes, we selected the Flower design as it looked like the most challenging of the designs (and I like to make Pixel work).

While the Slo-Bowl is by far the best food bowl I have ever owned, it does have a specific drawback. While the bowl is top-shelf dishwasher safe, if you don't have a dishwasher it can be quiet difficult to keep the bowl clean. Despite regular cleaning I am never fully satisfied with how clean it ends up.

Rosewood Treat Ball

Originally wanting to purchase the IQ Treat Ball (they are only available online), I picked up the Rosewood Treat Ball when I spotted it in a pet shop while browsing. When Pixel is using this Fun Feeder, he will nose the ball around the house, chasing it excitedly. The Treat Ball has an adjustable opening so that you can increase or decrease the difficulty of getting food.

Like the Wobbler, the Treat Ball also suffers from being a noisy way to feed your dog as they push it into the walls, but this is a minor inconvenience. The worst part of this feeder is that you cannot open the ball in anyway which means that you have to place the food into the ball via the small opening. It's quite impractical and I spend half of the time picking up the kibble I have dropped. The difficulty on this feeder does not seem to scale well either, the easiest setting seems to drop food regularly while the harder settings can mean that food is not dropped at all, I understand that this is the point, but if you wanted to gradually make it hard, it is almost impossible to do so. I kinda wish I had waited and bought an IQ Treat Ball.

Recommendations

 If was pushed to recommend only one of these Fun Feeders, it would have to be the Slo-Bowl. It takes between five and ten minutes for Pixel to eat a meal and the bowl is easy to carry about. While I love the Wobbler and enjoy watching Pixel eat from it, the fact that it is heavy means that it simply isn't suitable for people who travel regularly. The Rosewood Treat Ball, while nice to use for the sake of variety, simply is too difficult to fill with food which puts me off using it. If you want to provide a variety of stimulation then I would suggest at least picking up two of these products, or maybe two different styled Slo-Bowls. If you are looking for fun and a way to entertain your dogs, I would suggest the Kong Wobbler.