Thursday, November 5, 2015

Keep Your Dog Busy and Engaged with the BUSTER Activity Mat


Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a great day! Today I have a review for you on an exciting new "puzzle toy" from BUSTER! My dogs absolutely love playing with puzzle toys and I highly recommend them for every dog owner. Puzzle toys are awesome because they work the mind and the body. They are wonderful to have on those awful winter days when it's raining too hard or it's too cold to spend much time outside. I also find them very useful for when I'm not feeling well and the dogs need something to do or when I want to take a break from training and just have some fun.

We recently had a few bad rainstorms, so bad that there was flooding in some places! My dogs hate the rain and they refuse to play outside. Having indoor activities for them to do is essential so that we don't all go stir crazy.



This is the BUSTER Activity Mat Starter Set! The starter set comes with three puzzles for the dog to solve and Buster offers around nine more puzzles that you can buy separately for when your dog advances past the first three

The Water Lilly

The Activity Mat has 35 press studs placed 10 cm apart. You can attach different tasks to the mat, most of them with varying levels of difficulty depending on whether you fold the tasks or leave them open. The whole idea for the activity mat is to hide food in the different pockets of the puzzles and then the dog has to use his or her nose and paws to get to the food. 

Phoenix is working really hard!

Zoe tries the Water Lilly

The Starter Set comes with these three puzzles: 


Envelope, Cone Cloth and Water Lilly


Water Lilly
Square task with pockets for treats. Each corner is folded towards the center and closed with Velcro. The task is attached to the mat with 4 press studs.

Envelope
This task consists of a square envelope which is closed with the stick. The task is attached to the BUSTER ActivityMat by 4 press studs. The dog must then remove the stick in order to solve the task and find a treat.

Cone Cloth
This task consists of a fabric cloth which can be attached to the BUSTER ActivityMat mat using the elastic band with a press stud at each end. You can make it into a cone or roll it with treats hidden in the middle for the dog to find.


Here's our short video of Phoenix using the Activity Mat!

Both of my dogs have had a ton of fun playing with the activities from the Activity Mat! It's been keeping them very busy. I also think it's awesome that Buster has more activities that you can buy separately and I'm planning on ordering more of them soon!



On the back of the Activity Mat it has some non-skid material on there so that it doesn't slide around the floor while your dog is playing with it.

The Carrier Bag is as big as Zoe!

The Activity Mat Starter Set comes with a handy bag that is great for storing all of your dog's puzzles and it's also helpful for carrying them around to new places.

Overall I am really happy with the BUSTER Activity Mat! It's on a whole new level from all the other puzzle toys we've tried. This one makes them work so hard to figure out where the treats are. You can really see their noses and brain working. It keeps them busy for a decent amount of time and if you watch the video Phoenix was still thinking and searching even after she got all the treats out.

I would not recommend leaving your dog unattended with the activity mat (or any puzzle toy, really), it's best that you stay and monitor them while they are using it and then put it away when they are all done. The mat is really sturdy and can take some punishment but my dogs had a tendency to want to chew on the wooden dowel that comes with it as you can see in the video. I didn't want to encourage that so I asked Phoenix to give it to me.

I would highly recommend checking the Activity Mat out and getting one for your dogs! I also think it would make an amazing Christmas present for any dog owner in your family. Every dog can benefit from playing with this.

Update: We tested this toy on my friend's Belgian Malinois and he had a great time playing with it and it held up to Malinois teeth. I'm sorry I didn't snap a photo of it! It was way too dark in the house to get good pictures.

ZoePhee was provided with the BUSTER Activity Mat Starter Set in exchange for an honest review. We were not monetarily compensated and all opinions are my own. BUSTER is not responsible for the content of this blog post.

48 comments:

  1. Never seen one of these before. It would be great for a puppy to keep them busy for a while.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely agree! I think it would be great for any age dog. They have so many different puzzle you can get, too so the possibilities are pretty much endless. :D

      Delete
  2. It didn't take Phoenix long to work that mat out, clever girl! I love how colourful the mat is - makes it more appealing to the humans! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am on the thrifty side - so my first thought is "How can I make this at home?". This is a great idea. I may have to fashion something like this for Blueberry. Mostly because once she figures out a toy, she loses interest pretty quickly and I'm not sure I'd want to invest in something that was not going to be used very often.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This looks so cool. I would love to see how Ruby and Boca do with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet your girls would love this! Zoe and Phoenix had so much fun playing with it! I can't wait until we can get more puzzles for them! :D

      Delete
  5. This looks AMAZING! Shasta has added it to his wish list!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. My person thinks that looks pawsesome.

    Ojo is very good with puzzles. If a person leaves food in their bag, she will open the zipper and pull it out. Not me. I would just eat through this puzzle. (Can I eat through this puzzle? I think that would be the best way to solve it!)

    Licks,
    Cobi

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cobi! We tested the puzzle with my friend's malinois and he wasn't able to rip or chew through it! I think you would have a very hard time chewing it up! :D I bet you and Ojo would both have a lot of fun with it! :D

      Delete
  7. What a cool idea! This may be something Pike would like. Nola...she'd shred it. With fabric puzzle toys, the quickest way to get the food is to just chew through it. :p

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet they would both really like it! It's ripstop nylon and we tested it with my friend's malinois and he wasn't able to tear it. :D

      Delete
  8. OMD....TREATIES!!! You knows, I would probably just give the whole mat the shaky-shaky to gets the treaties out! BOL!!! Seriously, that looks pawsome! And I thinks Ma should gets it for me, because I deserve more cookies. and margaritas. hey, does it come with a margarita puzzle???
    kisses,
    Ruby ♥

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, definitely! :D You should totally have more treatsies! :D

      Delete
  9. That is really a great idea. It reminds me of the activity mat my kids had when they were babies! Do the snaps hurt their pads? Phoenix is really intelligent!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't noticed it bothering their paws at all! So far we've tested it on Zoe, Phoenix and Riko, my friend's malinois! :D

      Delete
  10. That looks like a fun mat. This will get my Olive very busy.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That looks like a great way to keep your dog busy.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh this one is new to me! Loving it!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love this! My dogs love brain games like these.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah it's totally fun! The girls have been loving it! :D

      Delete
  14. Oh cool. It looks really neat and complex.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks like a great indoor activity and lots of fun for the dogs!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've seen pictures of this product but never a video to see how tough it is, how sturdy the buttons, and how the material holds up. Great review! :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is terrific! Phoenix did such a great job with all the activities! This definitely would make a great gift, thanks for sharing.
    Love & biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is so cool! I've never seen an activity mat for dogs before.

    ReplyDelete
  19. It's really cool that you can make 9 puzzles out of this one toy! I'm glad your dogs are enjoying it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  20. Replies
    1. The instructions say to wipe it with a damp cloth and not to machine dry it. I was thinking about putting it in a laundry bad and trying the washing machine and then air drying it. I will let you know how it goes. :D

      Delete
  21. Oh I love the sound of this- Kilo would have a great time. The panelists at the Better With Pets Summit were all saying how important mental stimulation, games and puzzles are for dogs to keep them well. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I bet Kilo would have a blast with the Activity Mat! Yep, mental stimulation is really important! I sort of think it's more important than exercise! Thanks so much for stopping by! :D

      Delete
  22. Just read about this is Dogster! It looks amazing. And looks like great material too. It is already on our christmas wish list! Thank you for sharing!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh awesome! You'll have to let me know if Santa brings it and if the dogs like it! :D

      Delete
  23. This looks fun and reminds me of the mats I use to have for my kids when they were little. Keeping pets intellectually stimulated is so important!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Looks like a great gift for the holidays since it is so hard to spend much time outside here in the winter. (Well maybe not hard, I just don't want to do it!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely! You're not the only one who doesn't want to go outside in winter! Zoe and Phoenix hate the cold, too!

      Delete
  25. This looks like an absolutely fabulous toy/gift! We're looking at getting one of these for a friend - thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh awesome! Be sure to let me know how it goes! :D

      Delete
  26. That is a really clever puzzle grouping! I can see how helpful that would be for your dogs' brains. Your dogs are really smart too!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I have to look into getting this - Dex love brain games and your sweetie had a blast!

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Thank you for commenting!
All comments are being moderated for spam.
Thank you for understanding!