One of the best and easiest ways to keep your Chihuahua from getting bored, which in turn causes destructive behavior, excessive barking, etc. is to stuff a Kong toy with some delicious treats! They are easy to prepare and keep your Chi entertained for hours. If you have a puppy, they are great for teething too. But, even for an adult Chihuahua chewing on a Kong makes for healthier teeth and gums.
Don’t Miss: The Amazing Benefits of the KONG
Why a Kong?
When you just don’t have time to play with your Chihuahua or you are leaving the house for awhile the best way to keep them busy, entertained, and mentally stimulated is to give them a stuffed Kong toy.
Remedy loves her Kong toy, she seems to enjoy the challenge of getting every single morsel out of it as much as she enjoys the treats themselves. She, as all dogs do, loves to work for treats. Never give your Chihuahua a treat without having to “work” for it. Make them perform some command first; “sit”, “down”, “shake”, or any other command he knows.
No, that is not cruel! It’s the right thing to do. They don’t think of it as “work”, to them it’s playing and they love the interaction with you. It keeps them mentally stimulated. Best of all, it keeps those skills fresh in their minds. If they aren’t asked consistently to do something they were trained to do, they will lose the ability. Just like us, they have to “use it or lose it”.
Stuff Them With Healthy Treats
Treats that you buy at the pet store are usually high-calorie. Because it is up to us to keep them healthy and at a healthy weight, it’s best to use healthy treats, rather than those you buy at the pet store.
They do have so-called “healthy” treats at the pet store, and using them once in a while is certainly okay, but I give Remedy a Kong almost every day and I wouldn’t want to give her treats from the pet store every day, she would gain weight, even with the “low calorie” treats on the market.
Not A Fan Of Kong Toy?
A great alternative to a Kong is the West Paw Toppl. It’s also a tough treat dispensing rubber toy. Some of the benefits of the West Paw Toppl are:
- It’s a puzzle dog toy that traps treats with its inner ridges and tips over to keep dogs entertained and challenged, interlock the two sizes (sold separately) to make playtime even more fun
- 100% recyclable, BPA-and-phthalate-free, non-toxic, and FDA-compliant
- It’s easy to sanitize Zogoflex® toys at home — just pop it on the top shelf of your dishwasher.
- Made in Montana from US-sourced materials
Another similar toy is the Bob-A-lot Toy. Do you have a ferocious eater? One that doesn’t even stop to chew? That’s my Remedy, again. With the Bob-A-Lot toy, you can turn mealtime into playtime. Put one meal a day in the Bob-A-Lot and make him “work” for it. It will definitely slow him down and he may even taste his food instead of just inhaling it. Some of the benefits of the Bob-A-Lot toy are:
- Holds a variety of treats & kibble – easy-to-fill, easy-to-clean dual chambers allow you to fill with treats or kibble.
- Easily customize difficulty Level – adjust the opening to control the release of treats. Bobs and tilts on weighted, anti-slip base.
- Provides hours of mentally stimulating, challenging play – puzzle releases treats as your dog paws, nudges, and chases.
- Can be used with Starmark Pro-Training Treats, or with portions from your dog’s regular meal to turn mealtime into playtime.
- Helps foster natural hunting and foraging behaviors, and help prevent destructive boredom behavior.
How To Stuff A Kong Toy
Always start out with treats that are loose and easy to retrieve. You don’t want your puppy to become frustrated and give up. If it’s too difficult in the beginning, your Chihuahua will decide that he doesn’t like that toy.
As he becomes a more advanced retriever and it becomes less of a challenge, amp it up by stuffing it with something you can freeze. This is an especially good idea in the hot days of summer. Whatever you choose to put in your Kong that will freeze, make that the base and then add in other things with it before you freeze it.
Plug the small hole with a chewy treat or peanut butter (see warning below). Set the kong larger hole up in a bowl or container that will hold it upright. Stuff the food or healthy treats into the large hole. It should be well packed so your Chihuahua has to work for it. Unless as I said above they are new to the Kong toy. When finished stuffing, plug the big hole with more peanut butter or a larger treat to keep the stuffing inside.
When freezing a Kong toy, place it in a cup or glass with the large hole facing up. You can Squeeze the hole to make it oblong to get bigger treats inside or when using a spoon to scoop the gooey ones or a liquid. Start with packing it loose and gradually pack it tighter to keep it challenging for your Chihuahua.
A good base when freezing a Kong toy is chicken or beef broth. Make sure it is low-sodium, better yet, and what I use is a broth with NO SODIUM. Plug the little hole with peanut butter or a chewy treat before you pour in the broth.
What To Stuff It With
The possibilities are endless. Just use your imagination and what you have on hand you can give to a dog. Do your research, a dog is not able to eat all human food and some are even toxic to dogs.
I know some people stuff their Kong toy with leftover food in the refrigerator that didn’t get eaten. I would advise not to do that. We humans always season our food, salt, pepper, spices, etc. The amount of salt we eat is way too much for our Chihuahuas. Spices can be from good for them, won’t hurt them, to toxic and even deadly to a Chihuahua.
Healthy Ideas To Stuff Your Chihuahua’s Kong toy with:
- Apples (no core, stems, or seeds)
- Applesauce
- Apricots (give sparingly and REMOVE THE SEED)
- Asparagus
- Baby Food (natural)
- Bananas
- Blackberries (will stain – use with caution)
- Blueberries (will stain – use with caution)
- Bran Cereal (no raisins or sugar) (raisins and grapes are toxic to dogs)
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Canned Pumpkin (use sparingly, can cause diarrhea) (pure pumpkin, NO PIE MIX)
- Cantaloupe
- Carrots
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Cheese (watch for fat content)
- Cheerios
- Chicken (cooked, no seasoning and NO BONES)
- Cottage Cheese
- Cream Cheese (count the calories in their daily allotment)
- Cucumber
- Eggs
- Flax Seeds
- Green Beans
- Honey (in moderation due to high sugar content)
- Kale
- Liver Pate
- Nectarines (sparingly, high in sugar)
- Oatmeal (original, no sugar)
- Oranges (in moderation)
- Pasta (cooked, no seasoning)
- Peaches (remove pits)
- Peanut Butter (read the label, some peanut butter contains xylitol which is extremely toxic to dogs)
- Peas
- Pineapple
- Rice (cooked)
- Rutabaga
- Salmon
- Spinach
- Squash
- Steak (very little or no seasoning)
- Strawberries
- Sugar Snap Peas
- Sweet Potato
- Turkey (cooked, no seasoning)
- Tuna (sparingly, tuna has mercury)
- Watermelon (seedless)
- Yogurt (plain, low-fat)
- Zucchini
CAUTION:
Remember to count the calories as part of their daily calorie count. Make sure they are not getting too much fiber as that can give them diarrhea.
WARNING:
Please check lists of fruits and vegetables that dogs cannot eat.