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While dog toys come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, textures, and durability, interactive dog toys have the ablity to react or respond to your dog’s actions. With so many new interactive dog toys coming onto the market, which ones should you buy? Here are the 5 best interactive dog toys to keep your pet stimulated and entertained when you aren’t around.
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Is your dog bored with his current selection of dog toys? Are the daily walks you take with your puppy just not enough to keep him occupied? The truth is that all dogs need stimulation; some more than others. Some dogs turn to chewing furniture and destroying shoes if they get overly bored and no loving dog owner wants this to happen. You just need better doggie toys! Here are the five best interactive dog toys to keep your pet stimulated and entertained when you aren’t around.
What Is an interactive dog toy?
While dog toys come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, textures, and durability, interactive dog toys are ones that have the additional ability to react or respond to your dog’s actions. Most interactive toys can be filled with dog treats, dog food, or some other reward. When given to your dog, most interactive dog toys can keep them busy anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours.
These days, AI (artificial intelligence) is making it possible for dog toy designers to create advanced designs that respond to your pet’s behavior. These new AI-enabled pet toys educate as well as entertain. The newest doggietech toys can adjust and/or be personalized to your specific dogs behavior and needs.
Interactive Dog Toys Are More Than Just Indulgences
Wondering if you should be investing in toys your pet may use without you? Dog toys are beneficial to your dog in many ways. Toys help mentally exercise your dog, keep them out of trouble, help clean their teeth, and help them stay physically active when you aren’t around. Interactive dog toys provide many benefits:
Provide mental stimulation
Dogs need mental stimulation just as much as they need physical stimulation. Remember, physical and mental stimulation are not the same thing! When your dog is mentally stimulated, you will notice that he is more settled, less restless, less hyperactive and less attention-seeking misbehaviors.
Prevent or help separation anxiety
Dogs are social animals so separation anxiety is a common problem in dogs. It happens if your dog becomes too reliant or dependent on you, resulting in behavior problems when you are away. If you work long hours or live alone, it’s especially important to provide comforting social elements in your house. Interactive dogs toys can help lessen this anxiety by keeping his mind occupied.
Keep destructive dogs under control
If you have a dog that is constantly destructive, interactive toys may relieve the issue. By providing entertainment, you may be able to keep your dog from chewing on furniture, destroying clothes and shoes, etc.
Features of the Best Interactive Dog Toys
There are several different types of interactive toys. The kind that works best for your pet depends on his personality and the reason for giving him the toys. Some common features that create the best engagement are:
Food dispensing dog toys
When you aren’t around to provide an emotional reward through praise, treat dispensers are the next best thing. These toys are filled with some type of food or treats for the animal to reward their behavior with the toy. If you have an overweight dog or your doggie gobbles his food down too fast, you can even use interactive dog toys instead of dog food bowls for healthier digestion!
Talking dog toys
Some dogs are comforted by sounds and voices. If you don’t want to leave your TV or radio on while you are gone, these will work perfect for your pet. There are even some that you can record your voice into!
Puzzle dog toys
If your dog likes to rip up and destroy the toys you give him, then puzzle toys may solve the problem. None of these toys are the same but the best ones require your dog to consider how to find the solution.
In early simple interations before the world of AI and advance electronics, this would have been a plush toy made of three self-contained pieces that your dog can pull apart without destroying. But today’s gadgets provide even more stimulation through advanced sequences your dog must learn.
Here’s our list of the Best Interactive Dog Toys
If you’ve never tried any of the interactive toys, then one might be enough to entertain your dog. But we know that some of you dog mummies and daddies will want to spoil your pooch with multiple types. Many interactive dog toys have options for different difficulty levels, so don’t be afraid to dive in even if you think your dog may not be the brainiest puppy around.
Here are our favorite interactive dog toys:
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1. Wicked Ball
Cheerble’s Wicked Ball is a smart ball that allows users to play fetch with their pet from anywhere in the world. Owners can control the ball’s movement while away by using their smartphone. If your dog likes to chase laser toys, you can even control a laser pointer. This flexibility makes Cheerble’s Wicked ball a great option for multi-pet households.
The pet tracking system that allows to remotely interact with your pet. You control the ball to interact with your furry friend from afar. You can also snap pictures to record particularly precious moments. Cheerble Wicked Ball also integrates with a built-in speaker and mic, so that you can talk and listen to your pet on the other side.
With a built-in camera and optional collar attachment, the app provides HD footage of your pet during playtime as well as information on their activity level.
2. CleverPet
CleverPet is a rather clever treat dispenser. The treats are kept hidden from the dog until the dog decides to push one of the buttons. After the dog has mastered hitting any button to get a treat, the Clever Pet progressively gets harder. In the next round the CleverPet illuminates one button and leaves the others not lit. The dog must then hit the lit button to get the treat.
The CleverPet can connect to the internet over wifi and the dog owner can change up the interactions using a mobile app. CelverPet also includes a microphone to hear if your dog barks and a speaker so your dog can hear your recorded voice.
One of the advantages of Cleverpet is that it holds a lot of food/treats so it can be used as an alternate feeding system for dogs that have a tendency to wolf down their breakfast.
For more detail, check out our more detailed product review of the CleverPet game console for dogs.
3. Wickedbone
Wickedbone has variable duration according to the mode you choose. In driving mode it lasts 40 minutes, in interactive mode 4 hours and in sleep mode 3 months, all this with only 1 hour of charge, which makes Wickedbone the smart antidote for dogs’ anxiety.
Wickedbone is bone shaped and has application control and also bi-directional communication that allows it to react to your dog’s actions, without you having to be present. This AI gives Wickedbone it’s own “wicked” personality to tease and engage your dog.
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4. PupPod
When your dog plays with the toy, which is wirelessly connected to the dispenser, it receives treats. The game moves through progressively harder levels to train the pooch to respond to different sounds and fulfill its intellectual potential.
If you’re out of the house you can check in with them via a built-in camera that streams video direct to your phone. Not only that but data stored means you can track your dog’s progress. And of course there’s a community for you to brag about your newly brainy canine.
Live streaming video of sessions means you can tune into your dog’s activity via an app. You can even interact with the game and your dog! Notifications and post-worthy video clips are sent to you when your dog has done something special. No moment is missed — like advancing to a new level of difficulty. Who’s the next social media video star going to be?
For more detail, check out the individual product review for the PupPod smart dog game.
Wrapping It Up
Now that you know about all the perks that come with interactive dog toys and the highlights of some of the best ones, you can decide which interactive dog toy brand will work best for your pet. Or, if you afford it, perhaps your lucky pooch will get to try them all! Say goodbye to boredom, bad behavior, destroyed furniture, and constant barking. Say hello to a happy, engaged and appreciative pup.
