Are store bought frozen dog toys better? Compare homemade versus purchased options for your pup.
Alright, so the other day it was pretty warm, and Max, my dog, was just lying around looking bored. I remembered seeing something about frozen dog toys somewhere, figured I'd give it a shot. Seemed easy enough, right?
Getting Started
First thing, I rummaged through the kitchen. Didn't need anything fancy. I grabbed:
- An old ice cube tray
- His Kong toy – you know, the rubber one you stuff things into
- Some plain yogurt
- A banana that was looking a bit sad
- A little bit of low-sodium chicken broth I had leftover
- A few of his smaller crunchy treats
That's it. Didn't want to overcomplicate things on the first try.
Making the Mixes
Okay, so for the ice cube tray, I kept it simple. I just poured some of that chicken broth into a few cubes. Easy peasy. For a couple of others, I mashed up half the banana with a fork and mixed in a spoonful of yogurt. Looked kinda gross, but whatever. I dropped one small treat into each of the yogurt/banana ones before they went in the freezer.
The Kong was slightly different. I wanted it to last longer. So, I took the rest of the mashed banana and yogurt mix and shoved it down inside. Then I sort of plugged the big opening with a larger treat, hoping it would hold everything in. I stood the Kong up in a mug so it wouldn't spill everywhere before it froze solid.
Freezing Time
Then came the waiting game. I carefully put the ice cube tray and the Kong-in-a-mug into the freezer. Had to rearrange some frozen peas to make space, you know how it is. I left them in there for a good few hours, probably about four or five, just to make sure they were rock solid.
The Big Test
Later that afternoon, I popped out one of the broth cubes. Max was suspicious at first, sniffed it a lot. Then he started licking it like crazy. It slid around the floor a bit which seemed to be part of the fun for him. That one disappeared fast.
Next up, the frozen Kong. This was the real winner. He knew exactly what to do. Carried it over to his bed and went to town, licking and chewing. It took him ages! Seriously, like a good 30 minutes of focused work. Kept him quiet and seemed to cool him down too.
Cleanup and Thoughts
Clean up wasn't too bad. The floor needed a quick wipe where the ice cube melted. The Kong just needed a good rinse once he was finally done with it. Honestly, it worked out better than I thought.
So yeah, I'll definitely be doing this again. It was cheap, used stuff I already had, and Max loved it, especially the frozen Kong. Next time I might try mixing in some peanut butter (the dog-safe kind, obviously) or maybe some pureed pumpkin. Simple stuff, but it really did the trick on a warm day.
