A brag and a product review!
I didn't think my borzoi was getting enough stimulation. He doesn't play, and we live in a condo, so outside of meals and walks, there's just not much for him to do. So I got him a Kibble Nibble.
They say sighthounds aren't very teachable dogs - not because they aren't smart, but because they aren't motivated. There's nothing Vladimir loves better than food, so I thought it might motivate him to use his brain a bit. It's an egg-shaped kibble ball with holes on the ends so that when you roll it end over end, a few pieces of food come out.
We've been feeding using the kibble nibble for a month or so now, and it has been so much fun to watch him learn!
First, he would just beg me to roll it for him.
Then, he gradually started to touch it with his nose, and then wait for me make the kibble come out.
Eventually, he learned to give it a good hard roll, but he'd give up after a couple of tries because he couldn't roll it the right way.
Finally, he learned to roll it end over end, but he'd quickly get it stuck under furniture or in corners so I'd have to bail him out.
Now, he's figuring out how to direct the movement so he can keep the ball away from furniture. He's also learned that you can hit it against the wall really hard and a lot of kibble will come out!
He still loses it occasionally, under the bed or behind a door, but instead of coming straight to me, he first retraces all of his steps and makes sure he hasn't missed any kibble on the floor.
I'm trying to teach him to find it and tell me where it is when it rolls under something. That's slow going so far, but I'm just so proud of how much he's been able to figure out!
You all might have smarter dogs than mine so this may not be impressive, but if you're looking for a way to prolong dinner time and don't mind a little slobber on the floor (sigh), check out the kibble nibble :)
They say sighthounds aren't very teachable dogs - not because they aren't smart, but because they aren't motivated. There's nothing Vladimir loves better than food, so I thought it might motivate him to use his brain a bit. It's an egg-shaped kibble ball with holes on the ends so that when you roll it end over end, a few pieces of food come out.
We've been feeding using the kibble nibble for a month or so now, and it has been so much fun to watch him learn!
First, he would just beg me to roll it for him.
Then, he gradually started to touch it with his nose, and then wait for me make the kibble come out.
Eventually, he learned to give it a good hard roll, but he'd give up after a couple of tries because he couldn't roll it the right way.
Finally, he learned to roll it end over end, but he'd quickly get it stuck under furniture or in corners so I'd have to bail him out.
Now, he's figuring out how to direct the movement so he can keep the ball away from furniture. He's also learned that you can hit it against the wall really hard and a lot of kibble will come out!
He still loses it occasionally, under the bed or behind a door, but instead of coming straight to me, he first retraces all of his steps and makes sure he hasn't missed any kibble on the floor.
I'm trying to teach him to find it and tell me where it is when it rolls under something. That's slow going so far, but I'm just so proud of how much he's been able to figure out!
You all might have smarter dogs than mine so this may not be impressive, but if you're looking for a way to prolong dinner time and don't mind a little slobber on the floor (sigh), check out the kibble nibble :)