Pet Zone IQ Treat Dispenser Ball Dog Toy
About This Item
Details
- Engages your pooch in mental and physical activities during playtime.
- Adjust the toy’s difficulty as your furry friend’s cognizance evolves.
- Disassemble the plastic ball and easily clean in soapy water after use.
- Encourages slow eating by providing interactive obstacles for your pooch to overcome.
- Extends playtime while limiting the number of treats.
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Instructions
13 Customer Questions
1759 Customer Reviews
Fun for doggie, headache for me
My dog LOVES this ball, I love it much less. It's totally hard so he can get it going really fast & SMASH it against the wall, which causes it to break open & he gets all the food. Then he takes each of the 4 pieces and buries them in his snuffle mat. Meanwhile, I'm refilling it every 4-6 minutes, re-tightening the closure, and fishing it out from under every piece of furniture all night. It needs some sort of gaskets along the seams where the clear parts connect so it doesn't burst open so easily.
Please Return to Former Model!
My dog is very smart and had gotten to the point that this puzzle ball required nosing it forward and then turning with his paw multiple times. He loved this toy and it was the only toy he would play with. I would give its original design 5 or more stars, if possible! Sometimes he lost it and it would take time to find it, so I purchased 3 more just so he would always have one to play with. Unfortunately, someone had the (not at all) brilliant idea to make the upper half sphere in 2 parts- much weaker and so much easier for any dog to figure out the new puzzle: take the top sphere apart and get to the treats in half the time! This was a terrible change to this toy! Now my highly intelligent dog just has to figure out how to take the upper sphere apart and all the treats are his! PLEASE return to the original model! It kept my little dog engaged for close to an hour! Now it takes very little time to figure out the new puzzle- how to take the top sphere apart! Why would anyone make this wonderful and challenging toy so much less challenging for intelligent dogs like mine? And why would anyone think a weaker toy would be better?
Poorly balanced treat ball
We bought the 3" Pet Zone IQ Treat Dispenser Ball in Aug 2021 for our 25"Pug Mix. She has a longer snout, so pushing the ball around was not a problem. One issue is the weight-balance. Neither I nor the dog could get it to roll with the hole down, so getting the treats to fall out seems impossible. I've tried different shapes and sizes of kibble. It worked better adding small pieces of meat to the mix for weight. I think it might work better for a dog that uses its paws to manipulate the ball, whereas my dog only pushes it forward, or into dead ends. The other issue is that the clear plastic makes it disappear into dark corners. The dog gives up trying and walks away, leaving me to find the ball before any ants do! A better mental slow-feeding toy for my dog is one made up of knotted tea towels. Lay a towel flat, sprinkle kibble down the long side then roll it up. Repeat twice again. Then knot all three towels into a big ball. It takes my dog about 10-min to pull the towels apart, feeding as she goes.
Excellent Activity Ball
This ball keeps my little Pom busy and entertained when she goes to work with me. It’s clear so she can see the treats at different levels, and the baffles slow down the dispersal of treats and lengthen the fun. She will play with it for a long time, and looks for it each morning when we arrive. It is light enough that she can pick it up and carry it. She loves it! I love that she is entertained and I can focus on work!
Design Needs Work
Years ago I had a "food ball" toy for my German Shepherd. She played with it for about 8 years. It was challenging, it was indestructible. I couldn't find an identical and had high hopes when I bought this for my current dog. She does play with it, but, it often falls apart during play allowing her to simply eat all the food. It needs a redesign to put up with tough play.
Comes Apart Too Easily
My dog must excel at these types of toys. He figured out how to get the toy apart after playing with it for less than thirty minutes. I refilled it, thinking it might have been a fluke that he got it apart, but no, he managed to do it again. Instead of being a ball that comes apart in two halves, it comes apart in half and then one side comes apart in half again. I don't know if this feature is the reason he can get it open so quickly, but it's difficult to get together to begin with. The two "quarter" pieces don't snap together, they are loose, so you have to hold them just right to get it screwed into the threads.
GOOD AND BAD REVIEW
I purchased the smaller ball for my 40lb mixed, medium-sized dog. He didn't show much interest in it at first and when he did months later it shattered. I was afraid he might swallow the plastic pieces so I didn't replace the ball. A year later after using other toys for mental stimulation on my pup, I decided to buy this again but in a bigger size. The large ball prevents him from using his mouth because I think that's why it broke in the first place. It is big enough that he is constantly rolling it around for 30-60 mins, out of breath, and went to sleep after. If the ball can fit in your pup's mouth, monitor them, or don't buy it in case it breaks. Overall, the bigger size is perfect for my dog, tires him out, and we would have to take a break in between ball-treat times because he would get frustrated and bark at the ball lol.
We had bad luck with this toy
We were having a hard time finding exactly what we wanted in a treat dispenser. This seemed to have the features we wanted. Unfortunately - 4 adults couldn't seem to even get it unscrewed to put treats in it and fill it. We didn't want to pound on it or apply oil or whatever and ruin it - so - We are currently trying to return it.
Dangerous for large dogs
I took this out of the package and immediately thought this was not going to be good. The ball is made of hard plastic and my dog is a large dog and just picking this ball up with his teeth I could see that it would eventually shatter the ball. The hard plastic is dangerous if swallowed. So I took it away before it happened. Definitely would not recommend to anyone with a medium or large dog.
Did not last 10 minutes
We purchased this for our Goldendoodle. She has never destroyed a toy that we have given her. All her stuff animals are still in one piece as are her food puzzles. We put small treats in this for her to play with while we ate. Within a few minutes we saw that it was destroyed. The top screws into the bottom of theball. The top also can break into 2 pieces. We were concerned that the pieces could easily be broken and swallowed. I am attaching a picture. I would not recommend this and worry that it could be a choking hazard.
