Outward Hound by Nina Ottosson Dog Smart Treat Puzzle Enrichment Toy, Level 1 Beginner, Orange, Composite

My pup loves anything from Nina Ottoson!! This keeps her busy, without being too frustrating. I like the different difficulties and problem solving she needs to use while foraging. It’s well-made, only a few chew marks from months of use. It’s a good size, can you can put a variety of treats in it.

I'm a believer in making my pup work for her food and have a lot of food puzzles. This one is easy to use (for me and the dog), is sturdy and easy to clean. Outward Hound is one of the better makers of dog toys and food dispensing products, and this one lives up to the brands general standard. I do need to take it away from the pup once it's empty so she doesn't chew it, but that's nothing against the product. I recommend.

We have several Nina puzzles for our Aussie pup, but once she masters one it becomes more of a timed race on if she can beat her top time of getting all the treats out. This puzzle definitely took her the longest to figure out so we're hoping to put it away for a bit and revisit in a few months in the hopes that she'll forget how to solve it.One thing that I'll point out in case it's important to you... I assumed that like some of the beginner puzzles that there were replacement parts available for if your dog chews them up. Sure enough our dog chewed up 3 of the ledges on the drawers so 2 don't lock anymore and 1 is barely hanging on. Unfortunately I can't find replacements for it like I can for the bones and lids of the other puzzles. Definitely don't let your dog chews on this like they can for the others!

The media could not be loaded. So many are complaining that the bones got chewed up. That's because the dog has to be taught that the bone isn't the prize, the item held within is. They don't reason like we do and anything to a dog is a chewable item. I made the same mistake with my 8-yr old hyper-but-uber-smart Spitz / Husky mix. When he was a puppy I didn't know even a portion of what I do now and he tore up a great number of toys as a result.I'm starting fresh with a new pound puppy. My 10-month old took off with the bones initially and tried to chew them. I removed them from her and redirected her to the real treasure. After the 2nd round of training she started ignoring the bones and going for the real treat. She now takes her meals in this or her Kong Wobbler. I still have to watch because as I was typing this she finished the game and got bored waiting for me so proceeded to chew up one of the bones.The 8-yr old owned this in no time. His first time with it he put his paw on the center to hold it in place, then picked up the bones, tossed them to the side and reaped his rewards. He was considerably more slobbery than the girl, so do be aware that these things can get slimed. I'm using other toys with him due to the goo factor, and to offer him more of a challenge since this was far too easy for him.This has been a great relief for boredom for the 10-month old. She cracked her foot on our patio when the two dogs were running full speed ahead in the yard, resulting in a toe fracture. I am to keep this puppy on limited activity for 4 - 6 weeks so I'm learning all sorts of new tricks to keep her mind active to make up for the lack of physical exertion. Now that she's able to put weight on the foot this toy, the Kong Wobbler, and a plush toy with holes to pull smaller plushes from are helping me do just that.Pros:Good introduction to puzzle toysDurable But requires training to prevent dogs from chewing the pieces upLightweightEasy to set upCons:Noisy if your dog manhandles itMoves all over the floorSlobber can make the pieces difficult to handle (or just gross)Takes a little time to set upSupervision neededVideo is the boy on his 3rd attempt. He has a listening problem - he can't hear "sit" when he doesn't want to. :D I have to send him to the crate because he has resource guarding issues I've never been successful at training out of him so to keep things civil I send him away from the game before I refill. If that one piece hadn't escaped, breaking his concentration, he would have finished up pretty darn quick. The girl is less elegant in her execution.

I gave this 3 stars because nowhere in the description does it say this will only work for larger dogs. I bought this for my small dog because the pieces look smaller in the pictures and it isn’t at all possible for her to attempt the puzzle. There’s no way for the pieces to fit in a small dog’s mouth at all and the holes are too deep with a lip that makes it not possible for a small dog to use their paws to knock them over. I’ll have to gift it to a friend who has a large dog.

Didn’t take long to teach him the game. And he LOVES it! Great workout for brains and noses. And great fun to watch the play. I like that the shape of the bone-shaped covers can make it even more difficult to increase the challenge. 10 out of 10. Sturdy, easy to clean and fun.

Works great for beginners to help stimulate your pups. Easy to use and easy to clean. It’s fun and dogs love the treats. This is a beginner treat feeder, I found that I could use this for a while but needed to move up to more complex treat feeders. It’s a good size , my dogs are 50 and 75 lbs - it’s a good size for them, it may be too big for smaller pups. Lightweight, minimal noise and keeps them engaged for short periods of time. Not to be left unsupervised if you want it to last.

Overall a good product if you have a smart dog that can learn/understand doing things in order. My pup found many of the puzzles out there too easy and this was the first one that's proven to be difficult for her. I ran into the problem of her thinking she could chew on the layer they have to hit down though... So now it won't completely work in one section.. I want to use it but I have to watch her to make sure that doesn't happen again which kind of defeats the purpose. I use the puzzles to occupy her when I go on runs. Will work at it when there's time. I'm very sad it was broken so quickly (our fault 100%) for the price we paid but that's what a little pitty mix will do.