Have Kongs ‘gone off’?

[Boogie]

I’m no longer happy with Kongs. They seem to have gone off - they don’t last. The first photo is of a Kong which has been in the freezer every day, but it’s not very old. The other - a Kong bone - has never been in water (apart from washing it) or in the freezer. It’s the same age but hasn’t lasted well either.

I really like Kongs and Kong bones as a safe thing to give dogs and pups when I’m leaving them for an hour or so - to smooth that ‘I’m leaving the house now’ time and make it a happy one.

But I can’t really afford to keep on replacing them.

Does anyone have any other products which fulfil the same role and are longer lasting?

 

[kateincornwall]

Oh dear, thats not good is it ? Maybe write to them for an explanation ? I got one or two kong toys for Reuben , but he isnt remotely interested in anything like that x

 

[Anne123]

I have bought these for Finn...

 

[HAH]

We’ve got this Megalast Ball from Tug e Nuff which has been a surprise hit, and pretty resilient.

 

[Atemas]

I must have spent a fortune on kongs. On the whole they last reasonably well and I haven’t had one ‘go’ like in your first pictures (I don’t use the bones) but as soon as they get any little splits, I throw them away. Each dog has 3 kongs a day and I have a basket full in the freezer so you can imagine they get well used. I really hope the quality isn’t getting worse as I like to leave the dogs with a Kong when we go out and I need to feel comfortable that they are safe

 

[kateincornwall]

We’ve got this Megalast Ball from Tug e Nuff which has been a surprise hit, and pretty resilient.

Thanks for this link , Reuben loves balls , so I`ll get him one xx

 

[Naya]

I buy the filled bones from pets at home, scrape out the inside then fill them like a kong. Harley loves these, but hated kongs! Not good for dogs that would try and chew them though.

 

[JES72]

The first red Kong I bought for Homer didn’t last long. He chewed through it to get the tears rather than work his way into it. But since then his black one and a subsequent red one have lasted years but I don’t freeze them.

I gave a red one to my dad for his dog Bobby. Bobby was helping with the gardening and the Kong disappeared, a year later it turned up when they were spreading the compost a little worse for wear but still serviceable. Bobby still has it years later.

 

[Lab_adore]

We have six Kong's of various sizes and Maxx gets two per day. They look as good as the day we bought them (almost) and no cracks. We've had them for almost two years so maybe the quality is going down on the ones produced recently? If so what a shame because it was great to have something with reliable quality in this new era of rubbish quality everywhere

 

[Boogie]

I buy the filled bones from pets at home, scrape out the inside then fill them like a kong. Harley loves these, but hated kongs! Not good for dogs that would try and chew them though.

Yes, I use these when I can supervise them.

 

[Emily_Babbelhund]

Bummer. I only have two and have had them for eons. But I only rarely freeze them. Maybe that's why they are in good shape still.

 

[Ashley]

I’ve also gone off Kongs. I emailed Kong with pictures of the quite new splitting red ones awhile back and they replaced them with a black and I bought a few black. All the blacks ones looks like the picture of your red ones after about a year of use. We still have an almost 4 year old pink puppy kong in better condition. I found a cheap copycat at Walmart I’m using but I’m not replacing any more Kongs. I’m doing treat puzzles and hunts instead.

 

[SteffiS]

I’ve posted before about Toffee destroying kongs, Ripple never chews through his but Toffee is a menace with them. Now, if Toffee has a Kong, I only freeze them for a couple of hours so he doesn’t chew them too much. I’ve always assumed it was him, not a change in quality of the kongs.

I’ve also started to get problems with his chuckit balls, the last couple have either split within a week or got a permanent dent in on their first outing. I could actually feel they were a different quality when they arrived, much softer. I did get my money back for those two, at £6 a time I expect them to last a good few weeks.
I think I’ll give those Megablast balls a go @HAH , thanks for the link .

 

[Boogie]

@SteffiS said -

I’ve posted before about Toffee destroying kongs, Ripple never chews through his but Toffee is a menace with them. Now, if Toffee has a Kong, I only freeze them for a couple of hours so he doesn’t chew them too much. I’ve always assumed it was him, not a change in quality of the kongs.

This could be true, Spencer could have weakened them all - he has a very powerful bite. Maybe I should have had some of them just for him! Nine have gone in the bin.

@HAH said -

We’ve got this Megalast Ball from Tug e Nuff which has been a surprise hit, and pretty resilient.

They look really good but, sadly, our pups are not allowed balls of any sort.

Thank you for your suggestion @Anne123 - I’m on the lookout for some!

.

 

[HAH]

I've also remembered the Busy Buddy things @Boogie - we have the Twist & Treat which is fun but not quite the same as a Kong. My friend has the Squirrel dude (someone else posted on here about it yonks ago?) which might do the trick, and we had this too when Kipper was a puppy: Busy Buddy Waggle but Kipper didn't really take to it. It could be turned into a frozen treat thing though, if you can't use balls?

 

[Boogie]

I’ve also gone off Kongs. I emailed Kong with pictures of the quite new splitting red ones awhile back and they replaced them with a black and I bought a few black. All the blacks ones looks like the picture of your red ones after about a year of use. We still have an almost 4 year old pink puppy kong in better condition. I found a cheap copycat at Walmart I’m using but I’m not replacing any more Kongs. I’m doing treat puzzles and hunts instead.

I’ve just done this - hoping at least for a couple of replacements!
.

 

[Boogie]

I've also remembered the Busy Buddy things @Boogie - we have the Twist & Treat which is fun but not quite the same as a Kong. My friend has the Squirrel dude (someone else posted on here about it yonks ago?) which might do the trick, and we had this too when Kipper was a puppy: Busy Buddy Waggle but Kipper didn't really take to it. It could be turned into a frozen treat thing though, if you can't use balls?

Thanks! Squirrel dude ordered.
.

 

[Cath]

We have had the same ones for 3 years now, put in the freezer and used every day. Fred and Annie are lickers not chewers

 

[Beanwood]

We have a couple of the squirrel dudes, they look as good as new, think we have had them a couple of years now? Very robust! Otter loves flinging them around the kitchen...

 

[Natalie]

Yes, I've had four or five of the busy buddy toys, squirrel dude is very hardwearing, as was the rattle shaped treat dispenser. Also the Nerf rubber toys are very strong.