long lasting kongs

[dogsarebetter]

Does anyone have a long lasting Kong recipe? The dogs will be at home by them selves most of the day on thanksgiving, and I feel horrible about leaving them.

I will be gone for about 3 hrs, come back home and let them out to pee and play for about an hour, and then I will be leaving them again for about 4 or 5 hours. I feel bad
The dogs are used to being home alone for up to 5 hrs a day, so i guess its no biggy.

I am going to give them a couple of kongs, a fresh knuckle and hoof, and a couple of bully sticks in hopes that they do not care that I am leaving them alone for most of the day.

[stardogs]

The kong website has a number.

I personally do layers and then freeze. An example: peanut butter in the end hole to seal it, then a bit of kibble, then a layer of plain yogurt, then kibble, then a layer of canned pumpkin, then kibble, then a layer of canned dog food, cap with biscuit wedged under the rim, seal with peanut butter, and freeze overnight = 40-60 minutes of fun.

The shelter dogs get theirs differently: biscuit in the bottom, and then tightly packed with a mix of canned and dry food, and frozen - this lasts at least 15 minutes, but up to several hours depending on the dog. It's a lot simpler than my method.

If you want to make the whole thing more difficult, use a Squirrel Dude toy instead of a kong - I've made layered/frozen ones that lasted almost 2 hours before.

[dogsarebetter]

thanks for the ideas!
yup, a layered one sounds like what I need!

i wish there was some grain free dog food I could put into Ruckus's kong. but I have to drive 1 hr to get some, and no way i will be doing that before thanksgiving. I will have to remember to pick some up for when we are gone and christmas.

[Southpaw]

I just went and bought a can of Wellness Core specifically for Juno's Thanksgiving Kong haha (and I'll have some left over for future Kongs!). I usually layer with broken up biscuits and peanut butter, frozen overnight, and that lasts no longer than 20 minutes. Not quite sure how I'm going to use the canned food, but I feel like I can really stuff the Kong full of that, I don't like using a lot of peanut butter (and that's typically the only food item we have that's appropriate).

With multiple Kongs and a few other things to chew on though, I think it sounds like they'll be set for a while even if the Kong doesn't last.

[AgilityKrazii]

Great kong stuffing ideas!

I usually do peanut butter smeared all along the inside, a round crunchy biscut at the bottom covered in some pb then kibble topped off with some pumpkin and a bone shaped biscut then stuck in the freezer for 24hrs. It lasts Rosco I wanna say an hour? I havent timed it but that seems about right. He likes to lick them more then chew he always makes a very lound slurping sound!

[Amanda885]

oh very cool! I've never thought to freeze or layer stuff in my kong. I just stuff it with peanut butter but he gets it out so quickly. I will have to try this out for sure! that'll make him happy and last it much longer than the 5 min it does already ..haha!

thanks for posting this!

[ihartgonzo]

I've found that filling a Kong with canned food or ground meat, really mushy stuff, and freezing it solid is the longest lasting! You can top them off with something smooth (ie a soft treat, a slice of meat, a ravioli) to make it even harder. When I feel reallyyy bad about leaving my boys, I fill their Kongs with macaroni & cheese and freeze, and those last at least an hour.

Make sure they get LOTS of exercise beforehand, running around until they're totally pooped, and they will be just fine.