Something New From Something Old
November 10, 2011 § 10 Comments
The KONG has grown on me and I think I’m starting to become a fan of this wobbly, cone-shaped, rubber toy for dogs. What I like about the KONG is its versatility—you can stuff your pupster’s food in it to make mealtime a little more challenging, fill it with yogurt and toss into the freezer for a delectable KONGsicle, hide some treats in it then place inside a long sock for your pooch to remove, or play fetch with it outdoors.
Recently, I discovered another way to adaptively re-use Maple’s KONG toy. I had a bundle of packing rope that I was about to store away when the idea came to mind: Why not braid the rope into a sturdy cord and stuff the knotted end into a KONG toy? This oh-so-simple D.I.Y project hardly requires an instruction manual!
Ta-da! Now Miss Maple has a ‘new’ toss/chew toy that looks strangely familiar yet has a hint of intrigue that an inquisitive pupster like her will find irresistible.
“That looks like my KONG, but is it?”
Maple gingerly stepped forward to investigate her new toy then, without further hesitation, pounced on it. Grasping the cord between her paws like a little lioness who had forgotten her table manners, Maple was thrashing her head side-to-side and wrestling with her fictitious ‘prey’. From a distance, my camera went click-click-click-click-click at rapid speed but to no avail. This mini lightening bolt was just too fast to capture on film.
Alas, with all that energy spent, our model finally provided a quiet moment of stillness… just long enough for me to snap a photo! I think this new toy will entertain Miss Maple for quite some time to come and, when the fun eventually does expire, it’ll be time for us to find yet another new innovation for the KONG.
Disclaimer: HAPPY.BARK.DAYS is an independent entity and was not paid to write this review by any of the commercial enterprises mentioned in the article.
The Adventures of Little Miss Red Maple Leaf 
Awww… she is even sleeping with her new toy 🙂
quite innovative i must say… i love the Take 1 shot.. blurry but funny 😀
How clever of you. And looks like Miss Maple agrees. The action shots clearly show her enthusiasm. Very nice!
AW this is just too cute! Great idea of a new way to use the Kong. Daisy can’t have Kongs because even they don’t stand up to her ripping teeth – she destroyed one in 20 minutes. And I mean *destroyed*! Love the action shots! 😀
Woah a very good idea, throwing it for fetch will be so much easier! Playing tug and war too!! I think I have one or 2 puppy kong lying around too!!
Love the action shots! Miss Maple looks so sweet in the last picture 🙂
We LOVE our Kongs .. we even have multiples just in case we lose some. What a great idea and what great pictures. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I love kongs – my dogs don’t play with toys, but they love their Kongsicles, and many a newly arrived foster dog has been calmed and/or kept busy with a stuffed kong.
A trainer once suggested hanging peanut butter lined kongs from trees or other objects so they are just slightly above nose level, as a way to keep a very active young lab busy for a while.
Ha ha! I know the feeling when trying to get a good action shot! My camera can take 2.5 pics a second but sometimes they are faster than the camera.
oh, and what a good idea, I think I’ll try this for yuki and rocket and see what they think. We really like the kongs, well the pups do. Not me, when its clean up time. Getting in all those nooks and crannys within kong are pretty difficult-but at least I get some peace and quiet while they’re busy with their kongs. 😉
Hahaha tired of playing!!! how fun is that!!
Why do dogs like to chew?
Creative idea. The Kong in the sock thing wouldn’t be a good idea at my house though. Chester already eats socks so I don’t want to encourage 🙂