Are dog puzzles worth it?
In recent years, dog puzzles have really gained popularity among pet owners. Different companies have been making all kinds of puzzles - different difficulties, super colourful, multi-level puzzles etc.
But do all these puzzles really live up to the hype and worth your money or are they just another way for big companies making more money on mediocre products?
The purpose of dog puzzles
Firstly, if you’re not aware, then simply put, dog puzzles are interactive toys, designed especially to engage dog’s mind and advance their problem solving skills.
Puzzles come usually in various forms, such as more complex mechanical puzzles, snuffle mats or hide and seek style or treat dispensing ones.
Whatever the style, the main goal is to mentally challenge dog, but also reward them throughout the experience.
What are the benefits?
Improved problem solving skills
New learning skills help your dog to approach “problems” in different ways. Solving puzzles and getting a treat as a reward, will give your dog the urge to solve another puzzle.
Mental stimulation
If you give your dog different types of puzzles to solve, it helps to improve your dog’s cognitive abilities. But also, since difficult puzzles require your dog to analyze and think, it keeps their brain engaged.
One form of exercise
We all know that physical activity is super important for all dogs, whether small or big dog breed. But did you know that puzzles are a very good mental exercise?
Mental exercise is also energy consuming, making your dog a lot calmer after solving the puzzle and getting all the yummy treats.It also requires your dog to move around, nudge with their nose and paw to open up different compartments of a puzzle.
Calming
Even after we, as humans, study or do something mentally exhausting, we feel that we need to rest calmly. Well, the same goes for dogs. If you give your dog a puzzle that is at their perfect difficulty level, it will have calming effect, reducing also stress or anxiety levels.
How to choose the right puzzle?
Like we mentioned before, there are tons of different types of puzzles with different difficulty levels. So how should you know which one is good for your dog?
Well firstly, know your dog. Take into consideration your dog’s breed, size, personality. Some dogs are more into solving complex mechanical puzzles. But some dogs are a bit more lazy, so getting a treat dispensing toy is just perfect place to start.
Start simple. If any type of puzzles are new to your dog, then start with a simple one, why not trying out a snuffle mat. It’s fairly simple, but needs your dog to use their sense of smell to find all the small treats that are hidden in the mat.
Mix it up. Like us as humans, we need to change things up from time to time. The same goes for dogs. If they keep solving the same puzzle every time, then at some point it’s not challenging anymore and won’t count as a mental stimulation/brain work. That’s why it’s good to keep a variety of puzzles on hand.
Our favourites
We have a 6 year old Siberian Husky…quite a character she is. 😆 We have gotten her quite a variety of puzzles by now and we know that she is quite sharp, when it comes to getting her favourite treats.
We have linked all the different puzzles we have tried out. 🤗
We have tried some different Nina Ottosson dog puzzles like:
One of our favourite current ones is by a company, called Pawzler. What we like about this one, is that it’s interactive. Meaning that you can take apart the whole puzzle, get new pieces or rearrange the ones you already have.
That means you can continuously keep giving your dog new ways to solve the same puzzle, without really having to buy new pieces after every few months.
Use our Pawzler discount code Pocket10 at checkout to get 10% off from your order. 🎁
The most simple one we got for our Husky is a snuffle mat. Interactive snuffle mat like this is a great way to introduce puzzles for your dog.
So, are dog puzzles worth it?
Absolutely! Mental stimulation is one of the things you need to give your dog in order to get a happy, calm and tail wagging stress free dog.
Also, it’s a very simple way to alleviate boredom by giving them something to do other than trying to find some trouble at home. By selecting the right puzzle type and difficulty level for your dog will definitely help your dog enjoy a fun and rewarding activity.
Haven’t heard about Pocket Puppy School before?
Pocket Puppy School is a completely free dog training app. Our mission is to make information about raising dogs accessible to everyone in the world.
But in addition to our app, we have a blog (that you are currently reading 🤓) where we talk all things about dogs.
We post some informational and fun content to our Instagram page and believe it or not, we even have a merch store. 🥹 In the store you can get a t-shirt or a hoodie with your own dog picture that we will make into an awesome design.
Feel free to check out all of our channels, and if you have any questions, leave a comment down below.
Thank you!
