Rainy Days, a Restless Puppy and One Treat Ball

It rained four days straight in late May, and by day three my puppy had turned the living room into a racetrack. Clover was about four months old, a mini goldendoodle, and she had already chewed one corner of a couch cushion and barked at the dishwasher twice that morning. The backyard was a swamp and the neighborhood loop was a river. She needed to be tired and I needed twenty minutes of quiet.

So I did what I usually do when I am stuck: I read reviews for an hour. On May 30 I ordered the Outward Hound Nina Ottosson Treat Tumble in the small size, mostly because it was described as a Level 1 beginner puzzle and my dog was a beginner at absolutely everything.

It is a puzzle ball, about 4.75 inches across, and it weighs a little over five ounces, so it is easy for a puppy to shove around with a nose without taking out a lamp. You drop kibble or small treats inside, and the dog nudges and rolls it until pieces fall out. Level 1 means the openings are forgiving on a first try. The listing includes tips and tricks for adjusting the difficulty, and by the second week I was using them.

The first morning I put a quarter cup of her breakfast kibble inside and set the ball on the kitchen floor. She sniffed it, batted it with one paw, watched two pieces drop out, and then did not look up for eleven minutes. I timed it, because I did not believe it. Eleven minutes of a puppy working quietly on her own is a long, long time.

She solved it on day one. That is not a disappointment, that is exactly what a Level 1 puzzle is supposed to do.

That was the end of May. It is the middle of fall now, and the ball still lives on the floor by the kitchen island. Most mornings her breakfast goes in there instead of into a bowl. Not because I read something about enrichment, but because a dog who eats from a bowl is finished in ninety seconds and a dog who eats from the Outward Hound Treat Tumble is busy while I make coffee.

Rainy afternoons it comes back out. So does the ball when Dan is on a call and Clover decides the mail slot is a threat. It is not magic. She has gotten fast, and on a good day she empties it in six or seven minutes now instead of eleven. But six minutes of a seven month old puppy using her nose instead of her teeth is six minutes my couch cushion is safe.

The size is worth talking about. At 21 pounds, Clover still rolls the 4.75 inch ball around without trouble, and she has to work at it a little, which is the point. If your dog is much larger than mine, this size will look small next to them. I would rather tell you that now than have you find out on the porch.

If you read the reviews on this one you will see the same two complaints come up again and again: it is loud, and some dogs chew on it instead of rolling it. Both are true. Neither has been a problem in this house, because I decided which toy does which job and I stuck to it.

That job split is the whole thing. The Treat Tumble is hard, and it is loud on hardwood at six in the morning, so it lives on the kitchen floor or the rug. It is a puzzle, not a chew toy. When Clover started gnawing the edge of it instead of rolling it, I took it away and handed her the KONG. That is the rule here, and it is why the ball still looks new after five months.

It is also not a water toy. The listing says so. I wipe the inside out with a damp cloth, let it dry on the rack, and it has not gotten gross yet. If you are the kind of person who runs everything through the dishwasher, this is not that toy.

What I got wrong: I assumed a puzzle would buy me an afternoon. It bought me eleven minutes the first time and less since. What it actually does is break the day into small pieces. Breakfast. A rainy stretch after lunch. The twenty minutes before Dan's last call. Poured into one long session, it would be a letdown. Spread across a week, it earns its spot on the floor.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you to buy it before the rainy week instead of in the middle of one, because two day shipping is not the same as a plan. I would tell you to start with a small handful of regular kibble instead of a pile of high value treats, since the work is the point and the food is just the excuse. And I would tell you to take it away the moment your puppy starts chewing on it instead of rolling it, because a chewed puzzle ball goes in the trash and takes your quiet with it.

I would also tell you not to expect it to do everything. It is one toy doing one job well: it makes a dog use her nose and her brain for a few minutes at a time. It will not replace the walk you are skipping because of the rain, and it will not save your baseboards on its own. It just makes a washed out afternoon easier on everybody in the house, including the person who needs to sit down.