Nina ottosson toys

Hawthorn

I just bought one of these for my girl

http://www.pet-supermarket.co.uk/erol.html#1030X40386

It will be interesting to see how she does with it. She's always hunting stuff out, and sniffing around things so I thought it might amuse her.

Does anyone else use toys like this?

I did consider one of those ball toys that release a treat when they turn it, but my dog and balls? I'd have no house left :rotfl:

foreign_correspondent

I havent, but would love to know how you and your dog get on with it - do keep us informed!

pboae

I've never used them, because as much as I love him, my dog is not the smartest tool in the box and he'd never be able to work them out. But I have a friend who has a variety of sight hounds and her dogs love them. They are all at different stages with the toys, some worked them out quicker than others, but they are all fascinated by them.

Hawthorn

I'll keep you informed FC Rolo is a very inquisitive dog, and I'm hoping it will keep her out of mischief! Or at least, stop her trying to open the fridge to get at the apples, little monkey.
She already opens doors to give her access to wherever she wants to be - we came home the other day, to find her asleep on my sons bed. She SHOULD have been in the dining room, LOL. Also, she knows darned well upstairs is out of bounds, never mind the bed. She slunk down the stairs very quickly, wagging her tail all the way, and I swear she was grinning.
Her latest trick - when she wants the toilet, she'll come and nudge my computer chair to spin it, so I'm facing her. She can't bark like normal dogs. My, oh no. Waaay too undignified for little miss Rolo! :rotfl:

Hawthorn

It came!

She ADORES it. Currently back end up in the air, drooling all over it. It took her, oh, thirty seconds to work it out? :rotfl:
Anyway, she is WELL impressed with it.

One complaint, the model I got isn't great for larger dogs. The holes are quite small and she is having difficulty getting the treat out. She's kind of flicking them up with her tongue!
Maybe the other models are better, but the spinners are definately better for a small breed dog than a larger breed.

One happy doggy! Bonus

Next to try, frisbeeeeee :rotfl:

foreign_correspondent

What is it made of? I just wondered whether it is chewable or not? It looks a bit like some dogs may just try and chew to get to the treats before workign out the spinning motion!

Hawthorn

Husband says it's MDF - it's certainly that kind of material. I won't leave her alone with it, put it that way LOL.
If you've got a chewer, I don't think it would last five minutes, but under supervision should be fine

I'll warn you now though, it's messy. I had to clean it up when she'd finished, as it was covered in mushed up doggy treat and slobber!

Rosie75

There are plastic versions of many of the Nina Ottosson toys available. They are very tough, chewproof and can be put in the dishwasher (the dogs do slobber over them a quite a bit!).
I (or, rather, my two working cockers) have the dog brick, and love it. The older cocker worked it out pretty quickly, however the six-month pup can operate the sliding compartments but can't lift up the plastic bones without help. It may just be that he's too young and impatient at the moment. Some of the Nina Ottosson toys are more difficult than others and are rated accordingly.
These are interactive toys and you need to show your dog how to work them, and be with him while he's using it - I wouldn't just leave him to it. You also probably need to have a food-orientated dog - if they're not interested in treats, they won't be interested in the game.

Hawthorn

Now I know it interests her, I'm prepared to spend a little more moolah on a more expensive version

I only had to show her that it actually turned and she started doing it herself. I hope the others will be a bit more of a challenge for her

Rosie, does the older (larger) dog struggle to get the treats out of the holes?
I said earlier that she is struggling with the size of the hole. I'm hoping they do get bigger in different toys.

Rosie75

Hawthorn wrote: »

Rosie, does the older (larger) dog struggle to get the treats out of the holes?
I said earlier that she is struggling with the size of the hole. I'm hoping they do get bigger in different toys.

No, she doesn't - but I can imagine this might be a problem with the Dog Torpedo. The Dog Brick has quite shallow compartments (they're not really holes, more like a dip or a tray) so treats can be got out quite easily. This is the version that we have:
http://www.canineconcepts.co.uk/item--DOG-BRICK-plastic-by-Nina-Ottosson--dog-brick-plastic---dogs
If you look at the bottom picture you can see that some of the treat compartments are covered up by plastic bones - this is what the puppy finds difficult to remove, as he's still rather clumsy. They also need to work out that you need to take the bones away before you can slide the brown covers to reveal the rest of the treats - and that does take a bit of working out for a dog!

Hawthorn

Great! Thanks for that Rosie I'll get her one in a couple of weeks