Nina Ottosson - Dog Brick

SantaPaws brought this for our 5 month old golden retriever, and this is her 4th puzzle and probably one of her favorites. She can get through it, while learning new skills yet it challenges her to think. She got frustrated some but not a lot. We added little ropes to two of the white bones to help her pick them up, BUT she’s quickly learning and we are eliminating them as we go.

This is an ok toy. It's fun for puppies and does keep them occupied for a little bit but the plastic is not very durable and my girl has already been piercing holes in the plastic compartments. I wish the bottom of the puzzle was more non skid to help my dog be able to play more effectively with it without getting so frustrated. Otherwise it's an ok puzzle for her.

5 Stars

My dog Coco is a wolfhound rescue dog. She LOVED the brick. She, at first took out the white bone shaped pieces and tried to eat them…..so we removed them from the puzzle. As she became expert at opening the lids of the pink squares ….. and sliding them to find the treats beneath….we gradually added one pink bone, then the next, then all four…..my Coco became an expert in solving the puzzle: remove all white bones and the pink squares are easy peasy!It was a delight to see her work it out and it did take her a few days. Not so easy for a level two puzzle. We will lend this puzzle to other friends who have dogs and move Coco up to a level 3 very soon. What I liked the most….was my visitors (all were forced to witness the puzzle) my visitors jaws drop when they saw ... MoreMy dog Coco is a wolfhound rescue dog. She LOVED the brick. She, at first took out the white bone shaped pieces and tried to eat them…..so we removed them from the puzzle. As she became expert at opening the lids of the pink squares ….. and sliding them to find the treats beneath….we gradually added one pink bone, then the next, then all four…..my Coco became an expert in solving the puzzle: remove all white bones and the pink squares are easy peasy!It was a delight to see her work it out and it did take her a few days. Not so easy for a level two puzzle. We will lend this puzzle to other friends who have dogs and move Coco up to a level 3 very soon. What I liked the most….was my visitors (all were forced to witness the puzzle) my visitors jaws drop when they saw Coco flip open and slid the pink squares!

Fantastic Toy for Enrichment

I bought this toy because my blind maltipoo has been eating her food in literally FIFTEEN SECONDS FLAT and needs to slow down and also be enriched more probably. She doesn't like to play much anymore unless food or a bone is involved, so I had hoped this toy would interest her. Holy canoli, does my dog love this puzzle toy. She is fed small portions 3 times a day so we now switch off feeding her breakfast in her bowl, lunch in this puzzle toy, and dinner in a kong rolly ball (which is also a recent purchase that I recommend). She goes nuts and barks while we are filling up the puzzle and then scratches, noses, and slides the little boxes around, sometimes even tearing the covers off the boxes (which luckily can be snapped back on easily). She figured out how to ... MoreI bought this toy because my blind maltipoo has been eating her food in literally FIFTEEN SECONDS FLAT and needs to slow down and also be enriched more probably. She doesn't like to play much anymore unless food or a bone is involved, so I had hoped this toy would interest her. Holy canoli, does my dog love this puzzle toy. She is fed small portions 3 times a day so we now switch off feeding her breakfast in her bowl, lunch in this puzzle toy, and dinner in a kong rolly ball (which is also a recent purchase that I recommend). She goes nuts and barks while we are filling up the puzzle and then scratches, noses, and slides the little boxes around, sometimes even tearing the covers off the boxes (which luckily can be snapped back on easily). She figured out how to interact with the toy despite being blind immediately, much to my delight! It is also so fun to watch her play with it and figure it out. We have had this toy for maybe 2 weeks and she has already gotten really good at it, so I'm considering buying her a more difficult toy! My dog also sometimes wears a cone for when her allergies are bad and she is still able to use the toy with the cone on. A few times she even wanted to play with one of the bone lids after she was done eating and chewed on it and batted it around, even wanting me to throw it for her to go "fetch". It was the cutest thing and I am SO GLAD that I bought this toy! 20/10 reccomend!!!!! ALthough if you have a larger dog, I imagine they might flip this over. Still worth a try!

Great way to keep my dog entertained

This is the first enrichment toy I’ve gotten for my dog, so I wasn’t sure what level of difficulty would be best for her. I didn’t want her to figure it out and get bored, but she’s not the smartest dog. After a few months, she generally knows how the compartments work, but she’s so impatient that she just scratches at it until something opens instead of figuring out a more efficient way. She spends about 10 minutes on it, and it’s fun to watch too. It’s a great way to get her to eat slowly; the only problem is she hasn’t learned that play time is dinner time! She begs for more food after.

Great!

Mia is a 2 1/2 yr old Peke. She's a funny kind of dog! She doesn't always like things right away. This? She LEFT the fresh bits of turkey from under the plastic bones and grabbed those to play with. She didn't know exactly what she was to do with this! LOL She came back and played around w/it but would NOT eat the treats under the pieces. LOL I let it go a day and about 2 days later LOL she got the drift! NOW BARKS LOUDLY when she sees it up on top of the counter, as if to say "MOMMY THAT'S MINE! I know what to do with it! Give it to me NOW!" NOW I am VERY HAPPY with this cute puzzle! IF your dog doesn't take to it right away, DON'T FRET! He/she May in time as Dearest Mia did!

I'm surprised it didn't take longer

This is the first puzzle toy I have purchased for my 7 year old dachshund. She is a chow hound and I wanted to make treats and food a more rewarding experience for her. The first time we used this it took her maybe 5 minutes to use, just clocked her on our third use and she has figured it out in about three minutes.As far as the toys features I like that the red capsules lids snap off easily so they aren't just broken when little Winnie decides she wants to pull them off with emphasis.This might give a larger dog a harder time. Her little nose is very efficient at getting in there and flipping up the hidden compartments. A nice experiment but I'll probably try to resell it and upgrade her to something more complicated.

Multiple Difficulty Levels

Nina has YouTube clips for all her toys, where she explains how to use the different difficulty levels.This puzzle is a favourite with all the dogs I care for. You have to supervise them while they use it, and it will only take them about 5 mins to get through it all, but that's not the point.This isn't TV for dogs. This is not about giving them something to do while you go do something else. This toy is about enrichment; giving your dog some mental stimulation.With the right guidance, and stepping them through the different difficulty levels, your dog will be a pro and they will love it every time.I got this using PetCircle's?40% off a Toy special while purchasing food and treats for my dog. I wouldn't pay $55 for it, but it's absolutely worth $35.

Nina Ottosson Dog Puzzle Toy Interactive Treat Dispenser, Dog Brick

Arrived in no time even with all the Christmas rush. 7 month doggo loves it....although he chews the lids but that's him. Started off with treats in all the hidden spots twice then hid about 4 or 5 treats; could've reduced after first go I think. Thumbs up. Great product.Looking to get another puzzle soon.

Too Easy for my threat genius

I was looking for a puzzle for my extra chewy 1 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. When she’s left to her own devices, she will chew up anything in her way. . . Bbq lighter, glass Christmas ornament, electrical cord, IPAD!!This toy took her about 30 seconds to figure out and ingest all of the treats I stuffed it with. She delicately slid the compartments and then pried the lids off to get every last morsel. Back to the store it goes for the more advanced model. . . I clearly underestimated her.