# What Size KONG for SPOO pup?



## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I have several but my two don't care for them, sorry to say. I used to freeze food in them hoping it would be a long lasting chew toy but they learned to squeeze out the food and then the kongs were abandoned. What they DO love are the nylabone chicken flavoured flexibones! Hours and hours of chewing satisfaction . 


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Indiana, what size did you get in the flex bone and kongs when your SPOOs were young puppies?


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## Bellesdad0417 (May 18, 2014)

I got the smalls but I plan on having another puppy in the future so I figured If I had to buy bigger ones in the future I wouldn't have a problem with it.


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## PNWMama (Mar 18, 2014)

Jasper gets all of his food as training treats and in Kongs during crate time. I started with smalls but Jasper outgrew them pretty quickly (and he's a smaller dog than your pup will be - didn't hit 10 pounds until maybe 12 weeks). He didn't really understand how to use Kongs at first, leaving most of the food inside. By the time he "got it", I was worried he'd try to swallow it whole, and switched to the medium size. The mediums are working great for us now. He did do better with the puppy version - the regular ones were too stiff for him. But at 4 months, he can get the food out of any of them now.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't bother buying the small Kongs. I don't know if we'll need to switch to the large size eventually or not, as Jasper won't be a big guy when fully grown. But we're getting a lot of mileage out of the mediums, so it won't feel like a waste if we do eventually need to switch.


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## TrueColors (Nov 18, 2012)

I got Jenna the Medium one, the big ones are too easy to get the stuff out. Other then that Jenna hates it and only eats whats the easiest to get and leaves whats hard to get in it..So that leaves me half a kong with crusty peanut butter and treat mix. She never liked any type rubber toys to begin with.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

PNWMama, I should have checked in here before I went to Petco today! I bought two smalls, lol. Oh well. I also have a medium - all puppy kongs. I also have a regular medium kong and a puppy kong ball and teething toy. 

TrueColors, I am keeping my fingers crossed that my puppy will enjoy kongs! I also plan to try using the kibble for treating and also hand feeding (to train against food guarding) as Dr Dunbar suggests in his book.


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

Sorry I never checked back on this thread to answer your question; I have the flexi-nylabones in all sizes as I have a Boston puppy right now too that loves them. I have kongs in medium and small (for the puppy). They all adore bullies though...sadly they're kind of pricey but are definitely the chew toy of choice!


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## TrueColors (Nov 18, 2012)

nifty said:


> TrueColors, I am keeping my fingers crossed that my puppy will enjoy kongs! I also plan to try using the kibble for treating and also hand feeding (to train against food guarding) as Dr Dunbar suggests in his book.


I'm crossing my fingers too, Kongs are expensive !! And that sounds like a good training method, hand feeding also helps the bonding process between owner and dog. That's what I did with my baby :act-up:


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## WhosMyFluffyPuppy (Jan 12, 2013)

I agree with PNWMama, I would skip the small kongs. We had a small when Darku was 8 weeks old, then when he got older where he could almost fit the small kong entirely into his mouth we got a medium and a large. The medium is big enough; the large is just nice when we want to cram frozen treats into it, as it has more room than the medium kong.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

TrueColors and WhosMyFluffyPuppy, yes they are expensive! Luckily, my daughter has a 5 pound toy, and she is visiting next week, so I can pass them along to her, I guess.  

I've had Friday on my calendar for ages, and yet I haven't heard from the breeder this week (though I have emailed - I guess she is pretty busy with two litters!) so I am getting a bit concerned about my pick up day.


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## BeckyM (Nov 22, 2013)

I got Polly a medium puppy kong and it's worked well for her. The funny thing is that when she was a new baby, she'd get her bottom jaw stuck in it for a minute or so occasionally and come to me like "a little help, Mom" and I'd gently lift it towards the ceiling to get it off. 

Filling and freezing kongs and sterilized bones with food has been the best thing to keep Polly busy, especially as a new puppy. I'd add water to some kibble until it was mushy, stuff it in the kong/bone and then freeze it. Sometimes she'd spend 40 minutes working to get the food out. I started out by putting dry kibble in it so she'd get the idea. I've also used applesauce, treats, and pumpkin to stuff the toys (and froze it before giving it to them). If you search youtube for "stuffed kongs", you'll find all sorts of cool recipes and tips.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

These are great suggestions, BeckyM, thanks! How do you sterilize a bone and what type? Do I just buy a long bone (raw) from the butcher and then boil it for a bit - and then how to stuff it?


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## BeckyM (Nov 22, 2013)

They sell them at Petsmart or other pet stores like that. They're white bones that don't have any meat on them. I got Polly one that is about 4" long and is hollow. They come stuffed with filling sometimes but I prefer the unstuffed ones. I always look for sterilized bones that have smooth edges inside since I'll be encouraging my dogs to lick inside. The dogs like to chew on the bones even without treats inside too.  

Peanut butter also makes a great filling... just a little smeared on the inside. Baby bottle brushes make great kong/bone cleaners too when they get gunky.


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## nifty (Aug 2, 2013)

Great tip about the baby bottle brush! I found the white bone online and will pick one up at the store - thanks for the suggestion!


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