Food Dispensing Dog Toys

Sometimes I think Keeley is too much like me. I hate failing so much that sometimes I won't even try something unless I believe I'm going to be successful at it. I see this behavior in Keeley too.
We have tried all kinds of food dispensing dog toys over the past year and a half. It's been hard finding one that suits Keeley. They're either too hard so he gives up quickly or they're too easy that they don't keep him occupied for more than a couple of minutes.

First, we got lots of Kongs because everyone told us that it was the greatest thing. Unfortunately, Keeley did not agree. I've tried all sorts of Kong reciepies and still Keeley only eats out of a Kong what he can lick up with his tongue and even that he gives up on in a matter of minutes.

Then we tried a Talk-to-Me Treat Ball. The ball is way too round and got lost under furniture way too easily. Plus the hole that the treats come out is too big so too many treats come out at once. On top of all that, the talking part never worked right.

Next we tried a Buster Cube. Since it's a cube, we thought that would prevent it from getting stuck under furniture. Keeley thought it was too hard to get the treats out and lost interest with it almost immediately. Plus It was insanely noisy on the hardwood floors.

At some point, Keeley's grandma found this awesome thing at Target. I don't know what it's called or if it's even intended to be used as a treat dispenser. But that's how we use it. Keeley loves it - as you can see by how worn it looks.

A month or two ago, I got Keeley an Orbee Strawberry. I liked that it looked cute and Keeley liked that it was minty. But we had the same old problems. If I stuffed it too good, Keeley lost interest quickly and if I stuffed it too loosely then too many treats would come out at once. After 3 days it disappeared. To date, it is still MIA.

Today Keeley's grandma decided to take a chance on another treat dispensing toy. This one is called a Tricky Treat ball. At first Keeley thought it was too difficult to get the treats out. His grandmother said to him "You can't give up so fast! Think of all those starving dogs in Biafra." So Keeley gave it another try and now he's starting to get the hang of it. It's pretty cute watching him push the ball around the floor with it nose. Here's a picture of Keeley demonstrating his technique.
The next food dispensing toy I'd like to try is a TreatStik. www.treatstik.com