The best feeder toys for my Brussels Griffon

If you have a griff, then you know that they are #AlwaysHungry. They will wolf down their food as if you starve them continually even if you don’t, and they are a breed with high energy needs and high intellectual capacity.

So in order to train Nalu when I first got him, he would not receive any food unless there was some training behind it. Whether it was ensuring that he ate his meals in his crate in order to be crate trained, or keeping stashes of food in treat pouches or little dishes in every room awaiting responses to commands or waiting for good behavior, or scattering food on the ground in his kennel every time I would leave puppy quarantine, if he wanted food, he had to work for it. One of my earliest memories was dropping kibbles into the top of his crate any time other dogs would bark around him, in order to keep him quiet.

I rapidly learned that I would need to invest in feeder toys once he went into puppy quarantine, because I wouldn’t be around 24/7 as a food and reward dispenser.

Three years later, he is STILL loving feeder toys; and the feeder toys we love most are still going strong. So I thought I would share the GOATS of his feeder toys. I am listing them in order of which ones keep him busy.

#1: The Foraging Ring Treat Dispenser. We actually have a version fo this that we found at Ross, made by Kong, which appears to be discontinued and unfindable anywhere online. It was called the “Kong Treat Spiral”. So the Foraging Ring or the Kong Treat Spiral Stick are the next best replacements.

#2: The Kong Wobbler. This thing is highly effective. The only consideration is that only dry kibble and other freeze dried treats will work in this thing.

#3: Feeder balls. There are lots of rubber feeder ball styles out there. We use one like this , which allows for either dry kibbles or chew sticks.

#4: The classic Kong, in size medium. We used to have the puppy small size when he was a puppy. And let me tell you, he still loved that thing and loved chasing after it like a bouncy ball even after it got too small for his stature and made me afraid it would somehow get stuck in his mouth because the whole thing fit inside his griffy jaws. So we had to upgrade to a medium size version. When we moved to our new apartment, his original Kong (which I had affectionately dubbed “baby kong”) got lost somewhere. So now it’s just the medium kong. Biggest upside to this toy is that you can put wet dog kibble inside of it, and I feed Nalu wet dog kibble by default anyway.

The default things I put inside of his slow feeders are wet or dry dog kibble depending on the toy, these freeze dried kibble toppers, and training treats like these, as well as fresh small diced pieces of carrot, apple, frozen peas, blueberries, cucumbers, or boiled chicken. As with any treat, I strongly suggest you supervise your pup if you are feeding them any food you are afraid they might choke on.

I hope this keeps your griff cognitively stimulated, aids in training, and supports their ravenous appetite.