Marta from Ludokin shows how to use a Kong toy to keep dogs mentally stimulated and help with separation anxiety. Fill it with treats, introduce it gradually, and use it to give your dog something to focus on when you leave.
Hi, I'm Marta from Ludokin. I'm a dog trainer. And today in this video we're going to see how we can use the conga, which is an interactive toy that can be used to stimulate our dogs minds, but also in some cases to prevent separation anxiety behaviors or to try to solve an existing problem. As you can see here, it's obviously very important to choose this toy based not only on the age of our dog, but also on the size of our dog. For example, this would be a conga type toy for a medium sized puppy. And this would be a conga for a fairly large dog, such as a Labrador or a larger dog. And you can recognize it because it's red, so it's much more durable. How are we going to use this toy if we want to use it exclusively as an interactive game just to stimulate our dog's mental capacities? What we're going to do is fill this toy with kibble. We can fill it with kibble. To make it a little more difficult, we can stick some paint with the feed so that it is not so easy for the treats to come out. We can put some breadcrumbs to prevent the treats from coming out. And that's it. I use both of them the same way. One very important thing is that this toy is a guaranteed toy. What does that mean? It is a very high quality toy. So there is no problem leaving it within reach of the dogs even when we are not there. Very few toys on the market say that they can be left unsupervised. And that is one of the few that exist. If we want to use it as an interactive toy, what we will do is fill it and give it to our dogs so that they can gradually get all the contents out. What is the goal of this? The goal is for the dog to relax using the Kong. Why? Because in this case, the dog will have to put its tongue here, gradually take out what is inside. And with this, with this behavior, what we are using, what we are doing is helping it to relax. Why? Because it will be breathing, it will have to sniff. It will have to find a way to get it out. So we know that mental stimulation means a calm dog, a calmer dog. If we give our dogs good mental stimulation, surely our dogs will be much calmer and much calmer. This game can also be used in cases of, as we said before, separation anxiety. What is separation anxiety? It is a behavioral disorder. Normally in dogs that are recently adopted from a shelter, they could have separation anxiety. Or in cases when they Are separated from their mother. And what happens is that the dog in this case, does not handle loneliness well. When we are there, nothing happens. The dog is calm, the dog is happy. But the moment we leave, for example, to work or we go out, maybe we go downstairs for a second and leave it alone for 10 minutes. Our dog does not accept solitude. It is clearly suffering from a very strong state of anxiety. Hmm. And could exhibit destructive behavior. How can we recognize separation anxiety? Obviously, when we leave, the dog will begin to exhibit anxiety behavior. Dogs can react in different ways. There are dogs that bark incessantly. There are dogs that start to bite objects. There are dogs that can poop uncontrollably anywhere in the house. They could howl. So these are all symptoms of separation anxiety. In this case, how can we use a toy like this to work on eliminating this behavior? Obviously, we will use the kong, as we said before, we will fill it. We will try to make it not too difficult to get the treats out the first few times. And one very important thing if we are struggling with separation anxiety Is that we will never have to give this toy away the moment we leave the house. Why? Because that could be the signal for our dog to leave. So it is always advisable to take this toy and in calm and relaxing situations. For example, at night when we are watching television, our dog is by our side, associated at least a day or two before with our dogs in this relaxed situation. Then we will fill the toy and give it to him as a reward. In this case, what will the dog do? Well, obviously, the dog will associate that this is not a signal to leave, but rather a signal of tranquility. I am going to enjoy a moment of relaxation with my owner. Then the day will come when this toy will also be left somewhere. When we leave the house, it might be advisable to put it in the same place where we normally leave it when it is by our side. Don't worry. And then we'll leave the house. So you've seen that the same toy can have different uses. On the one hand, it can be a safe toy, A quality toy that we can buy and then use to give our dogs mental stimulation. But in the event that our dog suffers from separation anxiety, it is always advisable to start by going to a professional, A positive dog trainer, who will surely give you a series of guidelines to solve this problem. But remember that this toy is also a very important tool in the fight against separation anxiety. Thank you.
