I know. I've been long absent and overdue here on the blog. It's been busy. I seriously slacked. Had some writer's block. Couldn't figure out where to get started again. I can't promise I'll do better but I can promise this: an entire week of long overdue posts! This should catch you all up and hopefully kick my arse in gear. Here goes. :)
We had a wonderful Holiday season. The best part? This Nina Ottoson Tornado toy from Santa.
Winter often means shorter walks, sometimes less walks, and less play time in the backyard. And that means excess energy to burn. But never fear, Nina Ottoson is here!
Seriously. Working their brains for 15 minutes can easily burn the same amount of energy as a short walk. Thinking is hard!
Sadie, formerly known as the dumb one in our house, rocks the Tornado. It makes me so proud to see how excited and absolutely stoked about herself she gets as she works the toy. And a little bad for always calling her the dumb one. This happens to be one of Nina Ottoson's Most Difficult toys, That means she's a genius, right?
It also makes me laugh at how bad Hurley is. For as smart as he is, precision ain't exactly his thing and this game requires a bit more precision when it comes to moving the parts around to get to his kibble. Poor guy can't use his patented Hurley Hulk Smash move on this one ('cause Mom won't let him, not 'cause it wouldn't work - he would like everyone to be clear on this point).
Best of all, this is a great toy to use when reinforcing patience, waiting turns and sharing in a multi-dog home. Hurley has previously struggled with sharing treat-dispensing toys where the food falls out of the toy. It bounces in various directions and he can get a little worked up about his sisters getting to it before him. With a puzzle toy like this one, the kibble stays put and he is able to both relax when it's his turn and stay calm during the girls' turns. Since our end goal is increasing Hurley's self control, this toy is on its way to god-send status with our training as it relates to Hurley, food and self control.
We've found that placing the toy on a towel or mat is best as it tends to slide around a lot on the hardwoods. It's made of a thicker, more durable plastic than most other puzzle toys that I've seen and could probably withstand the Hurley Hulk Smash if I let him.
Thank you, Santa!
This toy review comes from the depths of my heart and I was neither requested nor reimbursed for writing this post. I do, however, carry the toy in my store so if you're in Portland...yada yada.
Tune in tomorrow for Long Overdue Post 2: Snow!
Do not feel bad, I have never even put up the pictures from Christmas 2011! The puzzle looks like a good one & we are glad that it is helping Hurley with his patience. I think everyone at our house could use some refreshing on their patience skills.
ReplyDeleteWe work every day on our patience skills. All members of the family, two or four legged! It's an ongoing process.
DeleteWow! That puzzle looks really interesting. I am pretty sure Turk would mess with it for about 2 minutes before going "forget this" and coming to me (aka "the easy treat dispenser")!
ReplyDeleteSadie and Maggie were like that with the Kong Wobbler. But I made the Tornado super easy for them the first couple times and now they are much more engaged about it
DeleteDelilah has a puzzle toy that I love watching her work. It's not as difficult as this toy, but it serves it's purpose.
ReplyDeleteSampson on the other hand, is too lazy to work the toy! But you are right, 15 minutes can really exhaust them!!
It's amazing how tiring thinking can be!
DeleteSadie, formerly known as the dumb one in our house, rocks the Tornado <--Best line!
ReplyDeleteHades and Braylon are SO not interested in mind-stimulating activities but Madden does seem to enjoy them. Maybe I need to ENCOURAGE them to be more interested...
Feeding them their dinner out of it is considered highly encouraging in my house. I always use hunger to my sneaky advantage :)
DeleteI just heard about this Tornado last week, and heard it was amazing, but alas, we live far from Portland so we'll have to search locally for it.
ReplyDelete