Showing posts with label enrichment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label enrichment. Show all posts

Thursday, November 3, 2016

PAW5 Wooly: Snuffle Mat Review & Giveaway!


Hi everyone! I hope you're all having a fantastic week! Today I'm really excited to share a new product with you! You guys all know how much I like promoting puzzle toys and enrichment for dogs and I was super excited when PAW5 asked me to test out and review their newest product! The PAW5 Wooly is their "official" snuffle mat! What is a snuffle mat you ask? Read on to find out!

The PAW5 Wooly is the newest way to provide environmental enrichment for your dog. It engages your dog's powerful sense of smell as they snuffle, snort and sniff their way through dinner! The wooly combines their natural foraging instincts with their dinner to keep their minds busy and entertained by using their most powerful tool: their nose!


  • Encourages natural foraging skills
  • Simply Challenging: Easy-to-fill and fun-to-use design
  • Fully machine washable
  • Handwoven from pre-consumer fabrics
  • Perfect for any breed, any age, any size
  • Sustainably handmade from upcycled materials
  • Durable construction



A dog's greatest gift is their nose - it's thousands of times more powerful than our own, because dogs evolved as natural foragers - finding morsels of food among grass, bushes, and brush.  Engaging your dog in this natural scent-driven scavenger hunt during mealtime makes them happier, healthier, and enriches their day! PAW5 products are designed exclusively for dogs and their unique natural needs.


Zoe and Phoenix have both been having a fantastic time using the PAW5 wooly for their mealtimes and I've also been using it for training! It's very easy to drop a few treats in the Wooly and then as they finish the last treat, I recall them away from it. As they get really good at this, I will start to call them away before they are finished with the food. It's a simple and easy technique to get some recall practice in, especially on rainy days! I was taught this technique by my mentor at work but Kikopup also has a video on it and you can find that here: Kikopup: Come When Called


When the PAW5 Wooly is not in use for the dogs, I store it in it's original shipping box and it doubles as an awesome cat bed! My cats have actually been fighting over who gets to use it as a bed. This was not PAW5's intended use for this thing but it's pretty funny and I figured you guys would get a laugh out of this! I sure did! All the animals at my house are enjoying the PAW5 Wooly in some way or another. It's a fantastic way to give dogs enrichment and a great training tool as well. I would recommend checking the PAW5 Wooly out!

I would like to offer a chance for one of our readers to win a PAW5 Wooly. The giveaway is open to US residents age 18 or older. The giveaway will run through the next week and I will contact the randomly selected winner by email. See the widget for the full terms. Good luck!

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Keep Your Dog Mentally Stimulated with the Buster Treat Ball


So we've been dealing with some "March blues" and a bit of cabin fever as well. The nonstop raining that tends to happen in March in the Pacific Northwest can become a total bummer for everyone. My dogs hate the rain and they do not like walking in it. Forced marches in rainy weather are no fun for anyone. We still do them but we don't go as long as we usually do when it's not raining. The dogs have not been getting as much exercise as usual and keeping them from becoming bored can become challenging. I like to have a variety of puzzle toys around and I am always excited about trying new ones.

Today we are reviewing the Buster Treat Ball. Buster is a fantastic company that makes all sorts of puzzle toys for dogs and they also have a great variety of other dog products and even some cat products. They are always fun to work with and we've done a few reviews for them in the past. The Buster Treat Ball is very similar to the Buster Food Cube (review) and I really like them both.


The Buster Treat Ball can be filled up with your dog's favorite treats or you can fill it with their (kibble) dinner. I prefer to do puzzle toys at meal times so that my dogs have something to do and they have to work for their food. These kinds of toys are great because they are working both their mind and their body.


The Treat Ball is an awesome toy because it features Buster's patented inner maze for slow release of the food/treats. This puzzle toy has two openings, the bottom one has a door on it so you can shut it to make the toy harder or open it to make it easier. This makes it an awesome puzzle toy for any dog, regardless of their puzzle toy experience. I really appreciate it when a company makes a product so versatile, especially since both of my dogs have different needs. Zoe will sometimes give up on a toy if it's too hard and being able to make it a little easier for her is so great!


The Buster Treat Ball is made from durable, ABS plastic and we've been using it for over a month. The dogs have not been able to chew it up or hurt it in any way. It's a very well made toy. The treat ball comes in two different sizes: Small or Large (ours is a large) and two colors: Blue or Red.


Check out our short video of Zoe and Phoenix playing with the Buster Treat Ball!

Zoe and Phoenix are both really enjoying the Buster Treat Ball. Zoe can be difficult to please with toys and having toys that spit food out at her really help with that. I really love how versatile it is and that the difficulty can be adjusted. It's also just an all around awesome durable toy! We are planning on ordering a second one. I would definitely recommend checking it out, especially if you have a busy, active dog!

ZoePhee received the Buster Treat Ball 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.

Thursday, March 10, 2016

DogMaze, Puzzle Toy Feeder Review (Dog & Cat Product!)


If you've been following me for a while, you will know that I feel mental stimulation for our pets is extremely important. I work really hard to provide my dogs and cats with new and exciting toys that enrich their lives. I've always hated just pouring their kibble until a bowl and I believe they have a lot more fun working for their food. Zoos and Aquariums provide this sort of enrichment for the animals under their care as well! So I was really excited when I was given the opportunity to review the DogMaze puzzle toy feeder by Buster! We received our DogMaze bowls in exchange for an honest review.

Phoenix shows the size differences between the two options!

Buster provides two versions of this toy/bowl. DogMaze is for medium to large dogs and DogMaze Mini is for small dogs and you can also use it for cats!

The idea with this toy/bowl is that you fill it with your pet's food or favorite treats and they have to use their nose, tongue and paws to move the treats through the channels and out of the exits. By being able to see and smell the food your pets will be very motivated to continue trying to get them out until the maze is empty. It keeps pets mentally stimulated and it keeps them busy for longer than a regular bowl would. The DogMaze is great for pets who like to scarf and barf as it slows down their eating.

The DogMaze is also dishwasher safe, which is a huge plus! This bowl/toy is made from durable hard plastic. It's a very sturdy toy, that being said, I always recommend that you monitor your dogs while they use these kinds of items and never leave them down when they are not in use or unattended.


Check out our video of all four pets using the two DogMazes!


All of my pets really enjoyed using the DogMaze! It kept the dogs busy for a really long time and they were not able to tip it over. I was also really surprised at how much fun my cats had batting their treats around the channels and scooping them out! These feeders provided all of my pets with a lot of mental enrichment! I think they would be great for most dogs, although the brachy breeds (like pugs, boston terriers, etc) might have a harder time with it. 

I would definitely recommend checking the DogMaze out! Buster also offers a variety of other kinds of puzzle toys for both dogs and cats and you can find the other items on their website. Just follow the link!

ZoePhee was provided with the DogMaze and DogMaze Mini 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.