Treat Puzzle Review - Outward Hound Kyjen Star Spinner Dog Toy Puzzle

This is a review of the Outward Hound Kyjen Star Spinner Dog Toy Puzzle
I would recommend this toy for beginners and dogs that are not overly astute at solving puzzles (no judgement!). I'm offering you a way to purchase it through an affiliate link. This will provide a small income to me and Bella to help us further our cause for happy active dogs every where. You are not required to purchase it from us. If you decide to do so, know that we very much appreciate it. 🐶

Bella's Review:
I like this puzzle because I was able to get to the treats easily. Sometimes you have a tough day waiting for your humans to come home and watching the cat run around and you just need to unwind and not think too much. This is the perfect thing for me. I think of it as the Paw-tini. Dirty.

Trista's 2 Cents:
A great use for this is to slow your dog down in how quickly they eat. It hold about 1c of dry dog food between all the sections.

The way it works is the dog moves the top and middle sections with their paw or nose to get to the treats or food. Once spun, the toy opens up and all the sections of the level(s) are exposed. If they already know how to use their body parts as tools they will be able to solve this quickly. Once learned, it no longer poses a challenge.

We were not so much looking to slow down eating (we already had a great option for that at a higher difficulty level). So for us this was not a good choice. The 3 pieces are supposed to tighten to create more resistance and increase the difficulty. My experience was that it was never tight enough to pose a challenge for Bella.

Some Good Information:

• Don't over fill 
• Evenly distribute the treats among all openings
• For dogs not great at puzzles, start with the top tier only and then gradate to the lower tier
• Use the resistance screw on the bottom to slightly increase the difficulty level
• Avoid OVER tightening as this can cause the unit to break apart and then you may need to call my husband to fix it (I did...)
• Call me if you want mine - it's basically new 

Here are some additional details:

• It comes in different colors - you can sometimes find blue instead of green
• It ranges in price from $10 to $15 at the writing of this review
• You can get it here with cash back

Treat Puzzle Review - JW Pet Ever tuff Pod Treat Dispenser Dog Toy

This is a review of the JW Pet Ever Tuff Pod Treat Dispenser Dog Toy
I would recommend this toy and am offering you a way to purchase it through an affiliate link. This will provide a small income to me and Bella to help us further our cause for happy active dogs every where. You are not required to purchase it from us. If you decide to do so, know that we very much appreciate it. 🐶

Bella's Review:
I ruv this toy! Ok, enough with the puppy talk...listen to me what I am saying. Get this for your dog. It's important. My love is their love. And I love this toy. The boney end is perfect for gnawing. And the fun bubbles have yummy things inside of them so I have fun getting them out. This game is fun and it's also a toy when it's not a game and I hear it could even be funner with wet stuff in it but no wet stuff is ever in mine. But I don't care because - as humans say - it has rocks in it.

Trista's 2 Cents:
Bella means "It rocks." This was an impulse buy for me. I saw it and thought it had pretty colors. I was looking for some variety for Bella because she tends to get bored (due to her intelligence) as she gets good at a toy puzzle. She's also a destroyer so I have to say I liked the price. It was less than $10 - a great price for treat puzzles that are usually at a much higher price point. I can't remember but it may even have been the extra thing I put in my cart to get the free shipping.

We have had it over a year and it has held up and held Bella's interest. We are replacing it because the bone ends are now sharp from chewing and we don't want to create opportunities for Bella to cut herself on them.

The colorful pods have held up and have not been broken, ripped or pulled apart by Bella - a well known power chewer.

We are happy with this toy and will purchase it again.

Some Good Information:

• Use smaller treats for easier filling efforts - training treats and treat discs work best. A broken up milk bone or similar tend to stretch out the pod over time making the toy easier to empty after a while.
• Vary treats so there is something new in each pod. Variety is the spice of life and will reduce boredom.
• Avoid allowing your dog to use it as a chew toy to lengthen the life of the toy. Bella has been gnawing on the bone ends for a while now and they have become jagged and sharp. I'm in the process of replacing it to avoid injury of her or my bare feet.
• Avoid wet treats as it's not the easiest thing to clean. The pods are not removable and it does not come apart for easy cleaning.
• See the way it's facing in the photos - turn it the other way to fill it. They are showing it to you with the large pliable end towards the bottom and this was quite confusing to me when I first tried to figure out how to fill it. 
• There is something in the directions about sliding the pods to make room for treats. This seems like it would work but in my experience it really didn't. I pry the large end open with a finger and squeeze the treats in. It's not the easiest thing I have ever done. But it's so worth it. =)

Here are some additional details:

• It comes in small and large. We got the large, which is the perfect size for Bella.
• It ranges from $5 to $13 at the writing of this review
• You can get it here with cash back

Have you tried the JW Pet Ever Tuff Pod Treat Dispenser Dog Toy? What are your thoughts about it? Please share...and include pictures! =-)

Data's Rescue Story Hits Dogster Magazine

by Bella Victoria, Dog Blogger

I'm so proud of my Human, Trista. She saw a story on an Australian Cattle Dog group and was touched by it. So much so that she reached out to the poster about the story and asked if it could be shared with her blog readers.

When she read the story, it brought her to tears and she knew the world needed to hear it.

Trista contacted Dogster online magazine and they approved her story idea. Trista wrote the story, working hard to incapsulate the love and beauty of Data and her forever family. 

It was featured as top story yesterday and today Trista received word from the original poster, Eva, who confirmed that she loved the story and he brought happy tears to her eyes.

I hope you like it as much as we do. If you do, will you share it? Let's help Data's story reach far and wide!

http://bit.ly/datadogster

Bella's New Writing Gig with Lady's Best Friend Blog!

We have some exciting news over here in AccordingToBella land! Bella has been doing lots of networking and caught the attention of Maria Huntoon, a dog behavior specialist.

Maria has a blog - LadysBestFriend.com - that will have all kinds of great information on training, behavior, fun new doggie items, veterinary information, and of course ways to enhance your relationship with your best four-legged friend!.

Maria wanted to have a fun submission that highlights great dog stories from near and far. She and Bella got together and came up with the perfect thing - the GEM OF THE WEEK! 

Bella's first Gem of the Week will be published soon and will be about Bella herself. So She can properly introduce herself to all of Lady's Best Friends subscribers and readers.
Bella will bring her own unique voice to each story and highlight some really awesome dogs over the next many months. Stay tuned for updates! 

If you have a special dog you would like Bella to introduce to the world through Gem of the Week, email us at gems@accordingtobella.com

If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, please sign up by emailing maria@mghcanineconsulting.com, subject "newsletter", or on her website at www.mghcanineconsulting.com.