It’s no secret I’ve long been a fan of the pet company West Paw. We have many of their pet beds and toys in our home; but lately it’s been the Quizl* that has been Luke’s favorite, and my favorite as well. It makes me feel far less guilty when I have to leave him home alone to go to my shop. (By the way, this post is not sponsored; though some of the links in it are affiliate links* so we may receive a small commission if you order through them).
The Quizl is a treat dispensing toy. There are many of these types of toys out there, but I think the design of this makes it a bit easier for dogs to succeed at getting all of the treats out of it. In addition, it’s rugged (made of recycled Zogoflex material) and easier to clean than some. We have two so I can rotate them out when I’m working several days in a row; they can go right in the dishwasher for easy cleaning.
Luke is a very smart dog and he knows what’s going on when he sees me get his Quizl out to prepare it. He is right by my side, knowing he’ll get to lick the peanut butter off the knife, and get a nibble of something that goes in it as well.
Peanut butter goes in each of the sides. While it would be my preference to use organic or all natural peanut butter, those tend to be a bit runnier; so I use regular peanut butter (never reduced fat or anything like that, those can have dangerous ingredients for dogs!!). The dog treats seen below are my favorites to use. I put 1/2 of one of my own homemade organic dog treats in each end, and then fill the middle with the Full Moon Treats* and the Crumps Naturals*. Both of these are a small size so come out more easily, plus they are all natural with no preservatives, and made in the USA and Canada!
Once I’m done, I hide it in the pantry for safekeeping until I’m ready to leave. Luke knows my routines and habits, so he knows when I’m getting ready to leave, and then he keeps a close eye on me. Often I feel like he’d be pushing me right out the door if he could! Once he knows I’m ready for sure, he runs to the pantry door and paws at it (as if I don’t know the routine!). I make him give me a kiss first and then we put the Quizl on his bed and he dives in. I now put a towel over the bed so I don’t have to keep washing a peanut butter covered bed cover! It tickles me that the first thing he always does is to eat one or both of my homemade treats out of the ends before licking all the peanut butter out.
I’ve never actually observed how he gets the inside treats out! The best part is that he barely pays attention to me going out the door, so I know he is not stressed by my leaving. It’s made going back to work outside the home so much easier for me; and I’m pretty sure it’s still harder on me than on him!
Do you have a routine for leaving your pet(s) home alone (if you are even leaving home these days!)?
This attractive toy makes our pets busier and smarter!
It sure does!
What a great interactive toy to keep Luke busy!
What a fun time!! You leave and the treat come out! With Angel MJF, I used to have a whole collection of treat dispensers, and he would get one or two when he was going to be alone. He had them all figured out pretty well.
Benji tries to rip the puzzle toys apart…and has destroyed/damaged a few…so we gave up…too risky that he would eat/chole on parts. Dalton gives up easily…and I cannot give a treat puzzle to one and not the other…too much risk for fights…My sister just takes a biggish treat and tosses it away from the door, then she slips through, BOL!
When we had four dogs, they used to all get a Kong when we left. Then one day our male golden stole the kong from our male beagle before I got out the door and a fight broke out. Our beagle didn’t want to fight but he was so upset over his Kong being stolen, he was shaking! That was the end of Kongs, and I did not go back to doing this until we were down to one dog.
Looks great and works well to occupy and distract Luke from you leaving, yes!!
What a great toy to keep him entertained
I wish the boys would play with these type games. They get fussy around treats when they are hidden. Sharing is not their strong suit. LOL!
We couldn’t do this when we had multiple dogs. For some reason what the other guy had was better than what they had, and it did not go well!
I like the size of that. And it does look a bit more varied than a Kong.
We buy natural peanut butter too. And it can be runny. I wonder if you could add a little bit of flour or some other thickener to help it stay in the toy better?
There’s more ways for them to get the treats out of this than many others, and it stands up well to chewing.
I might try the flour idea, thanks, Pamela!
That is a cool item. I will tell my niece about it for her dog.
It comes in two sizes and three different colors too!
That Quizl is a good way to keep Luke occupied.
He stays fully focused on it and barely notices me leaving. 🙂
Wow! Right now I’m giving the pups kongs. If I can get these small enough, they may work much better!!
It does come in a smaller size too!
What a great routine for him! It’s always easier on mom’s when we know our fur babies don’t freak out by our absence.
It sure is!
looks like a good idea to help your dog not be as stressed and Luke loves it too.
Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! I’m always happy to share about a quality product that we love.
That sure looks like a good one and Luke sure agrees, get the yum Luke!
He pretty much gets every last drop!! 🙂
We all know Luke is so smart. Most pups are if you spend time with them. Tell Luke I send him smooches.
Our Little Bit didn’t like to be left alone and we didn’t do it very often. We sure miss her.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. ♥
It’s always been my preference to be at home with my dogs as much as possible! Before we had the farm and were more active outside the home we always chose activities that could include our dogs like camping, hiking, and boating.
I can imagine just how much you miss your Little Bit. Luke sends extra smooches. ♥
I love toys that dispense treats! What could possibly be any better.
Mom always tells me where she is going and says, “I’ll be back soon”.
I usually tell Luke where I’m going and when I expect to be back, or if Dad will be home first. 🙂
When we are home alone, we sleep and enjoy knowing we have some down time. The Quizl is kind of like a Kong with different openings. We like to use ours to hold our bully sticks, but have not tried stuffing them like you did.
Before we found West Paw we used to use Kongs too. I just never really liked the design, I felt like the dogs could never get everything out of it.
We bet you busy girls like to get in some extra snooze time when you can! 🙂