A surprise gift in the mail!

Bella loves to investigate

I came home from the office tonight after a bit of a challenging day to find a box from the Kong company.  I had not ordered anything, and to my surprise Bella  had an early Christmas.  There were a few new toy items, treats and stuffing items for my dogs to try out.  I think I remember giving my business card to a sales rep at one of the conventions to try out products and review them - so now my dog is reaping the benefits.

So, first of all I let Bella sniff out and pick through the box.  She was most interested in the tire like toy and I thought that would be a good place to start with her.  I also saw the jerky treats and thought those would be good to try out too.

The packet size is also handy for trips to the vet

The treats are semi soft and easy to break into that small - half a cheerio size I suggest for rewarding.  Not the whole treat - just a nibble.  Then one treat lasts a long time and gives multiple rewards.  It also makes it much easier to reward with the 1 second that many dogs like as a rewarding or reinforcement rate.  These treats are lamb or beef and do not have corn, soy or wheat so they are somewhat hypo allergenic.  I think these would be great for trips to the veterinary clinic, and for owners to use them for rewarding during the veterinary exam.
I show how to do this at my site for the Bella Behavior System 

This is the handy tube of Kong past

Simple, but effective

So after giving Bella one treat, I got the peanut butter squeeze tube out for a try.  Kong makes liver , peanut butter and cheese flavored  pastes that now come in a small toothpaste tube like container.  This makes it easy to carry around in a purse or car to use in toys for distraction and rewarding.  This would be a great product to take along with you to the groomer, or veterinarian to stuff a food puzzle toy.  That stuffed toy can be enjoyed by your dog as they get their vaccinations, nails trimmed or blood test taken.   The rubber is pretty durable and it is a small enough size to carry along with you.  It is not that challenging, but at times you may need a simple food puzzle.

Bella, the 2 fisted toy tester!

The last toy in this box was the Squeezz - a soft ring toy that squeaks.  The material seemed soft so I was a bit wary of giving to Bella.  She can chew through just about anything.  The squeaker in the toy is very enticing for a dog to try to chew out.  To my surprise the toy has stood up to some pretty harsh bites.  It also bounces to it makes a great play toy as well.  The size is a bit small for the big dogs so I would use this just on dogs under 40lbs.

So, thank you Kong!  My dog loves your products as do I.  There is a lot of variety with an eye for safety and fun for pets.  I really like how these treat products and toys can also be used for rewarding during home treatment and at the veterinary clinic.