Stuffing Kongs for Puppies

Kongs are a fantastic tool for dogs of any age, but stuffing Kongs for puppies comes with some special considerations.

Puppies have short attention spans and are clumsy, thus some methods of stuffing can actually discourage them from engaging with the Kongs. You must slowly capture their interest and build their confidence in using Kongs.

We fed our puppy, Jackson, almost exclusively from stuffed Kongs.

This was mostly to prevent him being bored while we were at work, but stuffed Kongs were also hugely beneficial in crate training. Not to mention maintaining our sanity with the crazy chaotic energy only a puppy can bring to your life…

Along the way, we developed tips and tricks for your puppies to get the most out of their stuffed Kongs.

What the Heck is a Kong?

If you’ve been into a pet store, you’ve likely seen these strange bulbous rubber toys on the shelves. Kongs are immensely popular, so much so that even knowing absolutely nothing when I got my first dog, I did get her one of these toys.

Then, confused, I wondered why she never played with it or showed it any interest.

My 10-year-old self didn’t know, like all too many owners, that there is a secret to the success of the Kong. Stuffing it with food.

Dogs are much more interested if there’s food involved!

Picking a Kong for Your Pooch

You’ll notice that Kongs come in a limited range of colors, which actually bear some meaning about what sort of dog the Kong is best suited for.

Pink and light blue are for puppies. These Kongs are made with softer rubber that entices the puppies during teething and is easier on their jaws.

Red is the regular standard Kong, for most adult dogs.

Black is for dogs that are aggressive chewers, it is more durable than the regular red Kongs.

Purple is for seniors and those that need softer rubber.

Remember to take size into consideration when ordering or selecting your Kongs. They have guides that will help you determine the proper size for your dog or puppy based on their weight.

A Kong that is too small for a puppy is dangerous, always err on the side of a larger toy because puppies grow quickly!

We got Jackson a smaller set of Kongs when he was a puppy, then swapped them out for larger sizes and different shapes as he got bigger. He never destroyed his soft rubber puppy Kong, so we still use that today!

Why We Used Stuffed Kongs

Because we had to leave Jackson home alone while we were at work every day, he ate almost exclusively from Kongs as a puppy.

By stuffing Kongs and making him work to get his food, we were able to direct his behavior away from being destructive.

This also kept his brain active on a task and kept him from worrying about the fact that we were gone.

He would work on getting every morsel out of these food-stuffed toys for hours. By the time he finished them, he’d settle into a long nap with a full belly.

To this day we do not own a conventional dog bowl and Jackson still loves getting Kongs occasionally.

They are a great way to give your dog something to do and give yourself a break too. Don’t forget about them when your puppy reaches their “teenage” phase around 1-2 years old! They can be a real life-saver.

Stuffing Kongs for Puppies: 8-10 weeks old

Begin giving your puppy stuffed Kongs as soon as possible, it’s never too early.

Jackson was given kibble-stuffed kongs to explore with his litter-mates before he was weaned. Our breeder told us that he was the first puppy to figure out the Kongs had food in them. Instantly hooked.

We gave Jackson kibble-only Kongs from the day we brought him home, at 8 weeks old, to around 10 weeks old.

How We Started our Puppy on Kibble Kongs

Every day, we’d measure out Jackson’s daily allotment of kibble. This helped keep us on track for giving him enough, but not too much food. It’s hard to remember how much kibble they receive, especially if there are multiple people feeding. Measuring out the total amount first helps ensure the puppy receives adequate nutrition.

To fill the Kongs, we’d just pour kibbles loosely into them without packing them in tightly. This is very important when just starting out, it should be easy for the kibbles to fall out.

If you are giving any treats, like freeze dried liver, you can put a piece of this in first at the very bottom of the Kong. This will be a jackpot reward when the puppy gets to the end of the Kong. They will work even harder to reach the special treat.

It is critical to keep the kibbles loose when just starting out! Having to work too hard to get the food from the Kong can discourage your puppy.

Some kibbles should fall out from the puppy even bumping the Kong, so they will become instantly engaged with the toy.

At this point you just want them to develop an interest. Once they realize their food comes from the Kong, they will start getting more serious and you will quickly be able to move onto the next step.

As they engage with the toy, they will figure out the best ways to remove the kibbles from it and become more efficient at eating from the Kongs.

This will work best if they do not receive large meals from easy sources like a regular food bowl. Some dogs might not care about the stuffed Kongs if they know a bigger easier meal is around the corner!

Stuffing Kongs for Puppies: 10-14 weeks old

Jackson soon had no trouble getting all the loose kibbles from the Kongs. Once your puppy reaches this point, start mixing the kibble with a little bit of your puppy’s regular wet food.

By coating the kibbles in a little wet food, they stick in the Kong instead of rolling out, however this mixture is still easy enough for the puppies to extract.

The wet food also makes the Kongs smell even more enticing. You should see them start working even harder to extract every morsel.

By this point you should have an idea of how much kibble will fit in your appropriately sized Kong. Mix this in a small bowl with about 1-2 tablespoons of your puppy’s wet food. Spoon the mixture into the Kong and serve it up.

Expose you puppy regularly to wet food and ensure they actually enjoy it first!

When your puppy cleans out these Kongs, pack in the kibbles more tightly. We use the back of a spoon to force the kibbles down into the Kong.

Remember, still keep a few loose kibbles at the opening of the Kong. This rewards the puppies instantly for any attention they give the toy.

Once your puppy is a master of a more tightly stuffed Kong, you can up the ante with frozen Kongs and new foods.

Next Level Stuffed Kongs for Puppies: 14+ weeks old

When your puppy has no trouble retrieving every morsel of the more tightly packed Kongs, try giving them one that has been frozen overnight to make it even more challenging and time-consuming.

Because we left Jackson home alone for 8 hours while we worked, we gave him a number of Kongs to work on, up to 6 at a time.

If you are in this situation as well, do provide at least one Kong that isn’t frozen so the puppy has some easier options.

We don’t want the puppies to be frustrated with their stuffed Kongs! If they can’t get any food out of it they can quickly lose interest.

New Foods In Puppies’ Stuffed Kongs

In addition to freezing the wet food/kibble stuffed Kongs for your puppies, you can also experiment with other foods.

Including different foods in their Kongs keeps things interesting for them. Different foods help break monotony, especially if puppies are self-feeding from Kongs while you’re gone.

We’d always test new foods a few times while we were home before giving them when we’d be gone. This was to make sure he didn’t have any allergies or reactions to it.

For these special stuffed Kongs, we’d pick a couple different safe humans foods and mix them in with some kibble.

We still do this for Jackson when we know we’ll be out of the house for a while, the mix I did this morning was plain yogurt, kibble, frozen peas, and a couple pieces of freeze dried liver.

For these special stuffed Kongs, we only use 1-2 tablespoons of the “wet mixer” in each Kong. And no more than 1/4 cup of any smaller/diced foods that we call “bonus bites”. And remember, this is for a retriever, so scale down these amounts if you have a smaller puppy!

Some of our other favorite wet mixers:

• Mashed banana
• Plain yogurt
• Pumpkin puree
• Plain oatmeal
• Plain applesauce

And some of our favorite bonus bites:

• Apples
• Blueberries
• Peas
• Carrots
• Frozen sliced bananas
• Peanut butter
• Cooked liver chunks (definitely Jackson’s favorite)

You can also cut pieces of foods like carrots and apples a little larger to make them more difficult to remove. Just be sure your puppy won’t choke on them.

You can try other methods of stuffing too! Freeze wet food in an ice cube tray and pop that into a Kong for a quick, yet challenging, Kong.

When Puppies Master Stuffed Kongs

Eventually you’ll get to a point where it seems nothing is a challenge anymore. Most days we’d come home and find all of Jackson’s Kongs completely clean.

To keep things interesting, I am always on the hunt for new, durable, food delivery toys.

The bowl pictured at left is for dogs that eat too quickly. While this isn’t a problem with Jackson, we still prefer to have him work a little for his food. These bowls are great stuffed-Kong alternatives.

Playing with different shaped toys encourages the dogs to think and develop new strategies for getting the food.

Giving your puppies food-stuffed Kongs and toys beats them entertaining themselves. Because that entertainment is usually destruction!

If you are leaving your puppy alone with any toys, be sure they are not going to be able to choke on or ingest pieces of the toy. Keep your puppy safe!

Keep the Party Going

Jackson is very helpful and will put away whatever leftovers I have after I make his Kongs for freezing. (I interrupted him cleaning the bowl to take this picture, can you tell?)

We raised Jackson while working full time. Miraculously he is not a psycho.

Check out our other articles about this process and raising him:

• For more about house-training and our schedules- check this post out.
• For more about how we socialized and trained him, click here.
• Another fun post is our update after Jackson’s first birthday. We go over some more hurdles and experiences we encountered along the way.

Any other questions you have? Comment below or contact us directly via this page.

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