Dogs need mental stimulation to keep themselves interested. When they know everything about their environment and nothing new happens, they can get quite bored. That’s how you end up with an anxious dog or one who barks all the time to entertain themselves. Puzzle toys allow dogs to get that much needed stimulation without too much work for the owners. After lots of research and experimentation, we have concluded that the best overall dog puzzle toy is the Frisco Seek & Discover Puzzle. The rest of our best dog puzzle toys can be found below.
Best dog puzzle toys
Best Overall: Frisco Seek & Discover Interactive Puzzle
Best Classic Toy: KONG Classic Dog Toy
Best for Beginners: OurPets Sushi Treat Dispensing Puzzle
Best Intermediate: Outward Hound Tornado Puzzle Game
Best Advanced: Outward Hound Casino Puzzle Game
Best for Puzzle Experts: Outward Hound Multipuzzle Dog Toy
Best Treatless: Outward Hound Hide A Squirrel
Best Puzzle Ball: Pet Zone IQ Treat Dispensing Ball
Best Puzzle Storage: iFetch iDig Stay Dog Toy
Best Overall: Frisco Seek & Discover Interactive Puzzle
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Completely free of BPA, PVS, phthalates or removable parts | Can get torn up by heavy chewers |
| Good for beginners or experienced dogs | |
| Suitable for all dog sizes | |
| Inexpensive and durable |
Why we chose Frisco Seek & Discover Interactive Puzzle
The Frisco Seek & Discover offers everything dogs (and dog owners) could want in a puzzle toy.
The orange sliding covers hide the food, so your dog just has to move them over to get the treats. The white covers also conceal the treats, but they can only be opened by turning the green spinner to the right position. This gives dogs a little extra challenge, and it gives you the ability to set the difficulty.
And with no removable parts and safe plastic, there is very little risk of your dog hurting themselves while playing.
Best Classic Toy: KONG Classic Dog Toy
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Durable for light to moderate chewers | Not durable enough for aggressive chewers |
| Several size options | |
| Dishwasher safe |
Why we chose KONG Classic Dog Toy
KONG toys have quickly become the new standard for interactive dog toys. Their simple design makes it a bit challenging to get the treats out while also being bouncy and durable.
KONG toys come in 6 different sizes and 4 durability levels. The KONG Classic is designed for average chewers and most adult dogs, and they hold up pretty well to those standards.
If your dog is an aggressive chewer, the KONG Extreme may be more appropriate.
Best for Beginners: OurPets Sushi Treat Dispensing Puzzle
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Slight challenge, but easily solvable for beginners | Too easy for many dogs |
| Non-removable pieces | |
| Durable |
Why we chose OurPets Sushi Treat Dispensing Puzzle
If you’re curious about dog puzzle toys, but afraid your dog might not be ready, the OurPets Sushi Treat Dispensing Toy is perfect for you.
This toy has sliding treat hole covers that makes it look like a sushi platter. All you need to do is slide the sushi roll over, put treats or kibble in the hole, and over it back up.
Some dogs, mostly puppies, will take several minutes to figure out the mechanism. I’ve seen dogs sniff around the sushi rolls for several minutes before realizing they move.
Other dogs figure it out too quick. If your dog finds all of the treats within a minute, they likely need a more difficult dog puzzle toy.
Best Intermediate: Outward Hound Tornado Puzzle Game
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Mentally stimulating | Aggressive chewers may destroy small pieces |
| Suitable for dogs of all sizes | |
| Good for beginners and intermediate |
Why we chose Outward Hound Tornado Puzzle Game
The Outward Hound Tornado Puzzle has three spinning layers of treats and a top cover layer. Each of the three layers contains 4 treat compartments to stuff full of your dog’s favorite treat.
For added difficulty, it also comes with fake bone compartment covers. These fit snugly over each compartment hole and give dogs an additional challenge to get to their food.
That being said, if your dog has a habit of chewing things up, I’d recommend using this toy without the fake bone covers.
Best Advanced: Outward Hound Casino Puzzle Game
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| No removable parts | Drawers may be too small for large dogs |
| Easy to clean | |
| High mental stimulation |
Why we chose Outward Hound Casino Puzzle Game
The Outward Hound Casino Game steps the difficulty up a notch or two. The treats are located in drawers below the top surface, and they are released by twisting the bone-shaped latches on the top.
This is a Level 3 puzzle, so it certainly provides a mental challenge. It may take your pooch a few minutes to understand at first, but it is certainly doable.
The downside is that the construction appears to be for small to medium dogs only. The treat drawers are pretty small, and larger dogs may have a tough time getting the treats out of there.
Best for Puzzle Experts: Outward Hound Multipuzzle Dog Toy
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Many different ways to play | Can be too hard for many dogs |
| Durable construction and reliable piece movement | |
| Easy to clean |
Why we chose Outward Hound Multipuzzle Dog Toy
Talk about a challenge! The Outward Hound Multipuzzle contains 28 different treat compartments that your pup needs to slide, unlock, push and spin around to reach.
And when Outward Hound says expert level, they mean it. This puzzle is very tough for dogs to figure out. I’d only recommend getting it if your dog is very familiar with puzzle toys.
The good news is that pups won’t get bored of it. Even the most intelligent and best puzzle solvers can use this toy over and over again.
Best Treatless: Outward Hound Hide A Squirrel
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Doesn’t need treats | Being treatless may not grab the dog’s attention as much |
| Four sizes | |
| Soft, but durable |
Why we chose Outward Hound Hide A Squirrel
The Outward Hound Hide a Squirrel toy does exactly what you’d guess.
The tree trunk base has holes to shove squeaky toy squirrels into. Dogs will need to burrow and search around with their snout if they want to find the squirrel.
Sizes vary from Junior (3 tree trunk holes) to Ginormous (5 holes), and each tree trunk comes with 6 squirrels for your dog to play with. And if you run out of squirrels, you can always buy more replacement squirrels.
Best Puzzle Ball: Pet Zone IQ Treat Dispensing Ball
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Stays closed, but easy to take apart for cleaning | Not recommended indoors with super-energetic dogs |
| Two size options | |
| Adjustable difficulty |
Why we chose Pet Zone IQ Treat Ball
Our first non-stable toy is the Pet Zone IQ Treat Ball. This toy is a hard plastic ball with a small hole on one end. To get treats out of it, the dog needs to spin the ball around and treats will drop out of the hole.
It also has a removable barrier on the inside of the ball to increase the difficulty. The barrier has a small hole in it, so your dog will need to pass through two holes to get the treats.
But like I said, this toy is made of hard plastic. Rowdy dogs may jump on the ball and shoot it across the room. If you do have an energetic pup, it’s probably best to keep this toy outside or in a room without breakable items nearby.
Best Puzzle Storage: iFetch iDig Stay Dog Toy
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Hides your dog’s favorite toys | Expensive |
| Reminds dogs of burrowing | |
| Durable construction |
Why we chose iFetch iDig Stay Dog Toy
The iFetch iDig is not your typical dog puzzle toy. In fact, it’s not exactly a toy.
The iDig is more of a container that hides your dogs toys and makes it a bit more challenging for them to find. This container comes with a clippable cover that conceals the toys and pockets for an added challenge.
The design is built to have dogs paw and scratch at it, so it’ll hold up through normal wear and tear. But if your dog is a chewer, they could still find a way to rip the material.
What to look for in dog puzzle toys
Size
Dog puzzles, just like dogs, come in many shapes and sizes. You want to make sure that your dog will be able to use the puzzle toys you buy. Make sure you buy the correct size for them.
Durability
Nobody enjoys a toy that doesn’t last. Make sure you research how durable each toy is, so you can get the most bang for your buck. Also, some dogs like to chew more than others. If you know your dog is a heavy chewer, stay away from the soft toys and go for a toy that’ll be harder for them to destroy.
Mental stimulation level
Just like human puzzles, dog puzzle toys come in varying levels of difficulty. Some are easy and can be solved in a couple minutes. Others need much longer to solve. If your dog has no experience with a dog puzzle toy, I recommend starting with a beginner’s or level 1 puzzle before moving on.
How we reviewed the best dog puzzle toys
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