Human-proof hinges
The thing I like best about this toy is that when the dog leaves a lid open and i step on it, it doesn't break, it just pops out of the hinges and it's easy to pop it back in.
What our dog finds frustrating about this puzzle is the white 'bone' pieces. She tends to freak out when she pushes on a piece and it moves in an unexpected way. Also, she's small and her dog tags tend to get caught between parts. She treats these puzzles as traps -- she grabs for a treat and jumps back before the machine can grab her. She's reluctant to mess with the bones, but she wants the treat underneath. If I leave the 'bone' in a loose position, she can eventually get it moved, but it often takes her a couple of days.
Great Toy - so many possibilities
This toy is great. We have to, as the instructions indicate, modify the play a bit for our 14 year old, very careful girl. We have to put the bones off kilter so they aren't 'seated' so she can nose them off. We have to leave the bin lids a bit open. She has zero problem with the sliding component (once the bones are off the toy the red bins slide for more treat hiding places!). Our girl is SUPER cautious and not aggressive so we have to make all those accommodations. A more rambunctious agressive pup will have no trouble with this.
By Spotmom on Aug 29, 2023
You Can teach an old dog new tricks
We inherited my FIL’s dog after his sudden passing. Stang (Rott/Pibble/Lab mix) is 155 lbs is a lot of dog for me to handle. As a way to interact with him more I got him the Blue / red (brick) and he did SO well with it.. we play every couple of days so he doesn’t get bored- that I got him the twister and the beginner puzzle too. The brick game has been updated. I had a previous version that didn’t have the removable doors and a secondary place to hide treatos. Picture of the happy customer. I had a vid of him playing but it won’t let me upload.
Easily destroyed
My 7-month old Griff pup is not an aggressive chewer, but she was able to destroy one of the removable bone covers within two minutes of solving the puzzle. She enjoyed the puzzle and easily got her kibble from every possible hiding place within five minutes. Second time around I removed the bone covers and she snapped the door covers off. This puzzle is a good idea, but nowhere near sturdy enough for safety.
Purple And Green Sauce - Do NOT Recommend
The green and purple saucer puzzle is not for big dogs or strong chewers. My dog does not normally chew through toys but after a very short amount of time, she chewed this thing up and ingested sharp pieces of plastic that caused painful intestinal blockage and a large emergency vet bill. Having all the toys bundled within reviews made it hard to see - but now I see other similar reviews and feel awful buying this for my pet. I do NOT recommend purchasing the saucer. The manufacturer should make this with much more durable material or advise this isn’t for larger dogs.
Fun design, doors fall off
"We bought a couple of these toys for our pup, this one (red and blue) seemed like a fun design. However, the of the doors popped off with very little pressure during the first (gentle and supervised) usage. One popped back in and was fine, the other two just won't stay on, the pressure to flip it up is all it takes to pop them off. The other doors stay on just fine, even if pulled a bit (I tested the rest), so I think it's just a manufacturing defect, others might be fine. Overall it's a fun toy and good level of difficulty, just be very careful with the doors, and if they're at all loose I'd recommend removing them completely for safety. "
By Melanie on Aug 16, 2023
Very well designed!
My Pepper loves this game. It takes her only a few minutes to get to all the treats but it's time well spent. In another review someone didn't like that the doors fell off. The doors are SUPPOSED to fall off. The toy was intentionally designed with an open-hinge door so that the door would fall off rather than tear or break off. It's then very easy to just snap the door back into place.
By Meredith on Sep 12, 2023
The Doors Come Off Easily
I actually bought this for my cat and it works really well as a puzzle for her. However, if you are buying this for a dog, the little doors on the top come off really easily and therefore could become a chew toy if you're not careful!
Great intro puzzle!
We got this puzzle (that is Level 1/2) and another that is Level 1, and this one is a much better fit for our dog because it has variety of easier aspects (the white bones) and harder aspects (opening the red squares and sliding them to get treats from underneath). Our dog loves seeking out treats in this puzzle, and we even put kibble in with the treats which helps him eat a little more than he does with just kibble in a bowl. Looking forward to getting some of the harder puzzles in the future after seeing how much our dog likes this one!
Tornado: Fun and flexible!
I bought the Tornado (and a few others) to change up my 11# girl's meal times. Aside from special meals of rehydrated noms (very wet), she doesn't eat out of a bowl. Puzzles, scatter feeding, Kongs-esque toys...
Even though we've had the Tornado for two years, and she can do much higher level puzzles (this is a 2/intermediate), she still gets excited when I pull it out—happy dance and doggie smiles. It's one of her favorites!
It's also flexible, so you can tailor it to your dog's level/needs. You can use it with or without the bone blocks*, use canned food, throw a towel over it, or freeze things in it. I pop some special treats—my girl's especially fond of blueberries, apples, & pieces of dehydrated treats—into a slot, add a bit of water/a dab of yogurt/dog-friendly bone broth to "glue" it down, then put it in the freezer. You can do the same with canned or raw food. With that said, be sure your dog knows how to use the puzzle before making things more challenging. No one wants a frustrated pupper!
*Bone blocks—a couple people have said that their pups got frustrated when they couldn't get the blocks out. You can start by having the Tornado partially open and placing one in at an angle. You can also put a piece of twine through the hole in the block, so your dog can grab it and pull the block out.