Kong Treat Stuck

kelleyanne1988 · Post by **kelleyanne1988** » Wed Oct 28, 2009 9:09 pm

Alrighty... I FINALLY found Gunner's Kong toy when I was cleaning the other day. Well when he was smaller I put one the the kong stick treat thing that came with the kong toy in it for him. He ate the half that was sticking out of the kong and now the other half is still inside the kong, not able to come out!

Any ideas on how to get it out? or just leave it in?

Fundog · Post by **Fundog** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 2:35 am

It's kind of hard to say because I can't see it, and I may not understand correctly what you are talking about, since I've never gotten a kong stick that comes with the kong. However.... I often stuff my dogs' kongs with gooey sticky stuff that they have a hard time getting out, so it sits in there and gets nasty. I have to scrape as much out as I can using a utensil, such as a spoon or a butter knife. Then we blast it with the hose attachment on our kitchen sink. Then it goes in the dishwasher. It doesn't always come out pristine even so, but it's "good enough for government." This is being used by a healthy dog, not a human infant with a vulnerable immune system.

If what I just said doesn't match the situation, then can you describe in better detail what the difficulty is? Or even better, post a picture? Then I might have some more ideas to help you-- I'm actually kind of good at this kind of problem solving.

maximoo · Post by **maximoo** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:34 am

You might have to soak it in hot soapy water & then you will be able to push/take it out.

Noobs · Post by **Noobs** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:55 am

If you have chopsticks, you can push it out by putting the end of the chopstick into the small hole and push it out of the big hole. But yes, soaking it first will help a lot.

kelleyanne1988 · Post by **kelleyanne1988** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:52 am

Well with my kong came these thick chalky bones. You push one in and it fits snug, but only about half of it fits into the kong. I tried to pull it out as he got closer to the kong, but found out that the treat was in there pretty tight. Now it's in there and shakes around, it doesn't stay vertical to push it out.

Leigha · Post by **Leigha** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 3:43 pm

If it were me, I'd just chuck it and go buy another one. I'm also the same person though who this weekend while cleaning out the garage was ready to throw everything away and if we ever needed that "thing" again to just go buy a new one.

Emma&Tess · Post by **Emma&Tess** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:45 pm

I think soaking it would be the best, like maximoo said. Large kongs can get up to $70 so I certainly would not buy a new one.

Fundog · Post by **Fundog** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 6:57 pm

Okay, I've got a couple of ideas.

* Get two popsicle sticks, or something thin like a credit card, but stiffer than paper and narrower than a credit card, since obviously you can't fit a credit card into the Kong opening. Slide one stick down the big opening, along each side of the chalky thing. Getting it properly aligned, it should then come out, especially if you can push something like a chopstick through the small hole at the other end. You can very carefully slide the two popsicle sticks out just a hair also, if it is a really tight fit, and the friction will help to draw the chalk thing out enough you can grasp it.

* Use a corkscrew or an ice pick or something brutal like that to break up the chalky thing into smaller bits so they just fall out.

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:52 pm

pair of long nosed pliers... and someone who has a bench vice..

Might not need the vice though now I have one I find i use it for loads of things, but hold the kong firmly, perhaps squash it abit and grab the treat with the pliers and pull it out!

Fundog · Post by **Fundog** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:27 pm

And here we thought these kinds of puzzles are for our dogs....

kelleyanne1988 · Post by **kelleyanne1988** » Thu Oct 29, 2009 9:46 pm

haha yeah its sad that I had to get on here to get ideas on how to get it out haha. I find it soooo stupid that they would give you a treat that does this lol.

I might just end up buying 2 new ones and keepin this chalky treat in this one. they throw this around all the time now and chase each other with it. every now and it it'll come to the opening and they'll sit there and chew on it cuz they can't barely get a taste of it

with them playing this much hopefully I can move into a bigger house when I move outta this tiny place. im surprised they haven't broke anything yet wrestling around the place. and they still got growin to do!!!

Fundog · Post by **Fundog** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:22 am

Isn't it great when they play together? Sometimes Annie and Dottie will play-- it's better than television!

kelleyanne1988 · Post by **kelleyanne1988** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 5:08 pm

it really is great when they play together! I absoultely loved it also a few weeks ago I went to my parents and took the boys out to the dog park while I was there. this guy threw a stick (well... more like a log!!!) out into the lake for his dog and gunner ended up goin to get it. it was the first time he would finally fetch something into the water. so he fetched his little heart out for like 20 minutes. this other dog came and would get it before gunner but wouldn't bring it out of the water, so gunner would get in and bring it to me when the other dog dropped it. he was eager to get that stick for me! I finally had to make him stop because he was shivering. it was really great though.

by the way... gunner is great ay fetching sticks. and he'll fetch balls in the house. but I took the ball outside and he doesn't seem to wanna get it, but he'll happily go fetch a stick for me. any ideas on getting him as happy to bring me a ball as he is about bringin me a stick?

Fundog · Post by **Fundog** » Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:59 pm

Some dogs just have a preference. Labrador Retrievers are well known "Duck Dogs" here in the U.S., the most commonly chosen breed for duck hunters. When training, the hunters use a canvas dummy that has that oblong shape, rather than a ball. It is easier for the dog to grasp out of the water. And from now on, avoid using sticks when at all possible, since so much can go wrong, even fatally injuring your dog. Find toys with that long stick like shape, but that are soft and have no pointy ends. For Annie, I use one of those soft squishy squeeze toys-- specifically, it is a plastic chew chew train, lol. I make sure it is not an expensive one, just in case she gets tired and doesn't bring it back once.

Noobs · Post by **Noobs** » Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:10 am

Here's a post that Horace's Mum wrote a while back on how she taught her dog to retrieve:

Horace's Mum wrote:Well, I had to teach a retrieve as part of our stacking rings game, so I can try and explain how I did it. You will have to make up your own mind about what you need to do depending on where you are now.

Horus wouldn't retrieve at all, full stop. So I used clicker training to teach him, and he will now do it 5-6 times as part of a game, but to be honest I haven't really pursued it one I got what I needed because its not that important to me! I'm sure if I really worked on it then I could build it up even more.

To begin with, I used one item that was his retrieve article. It doesn't matter what, but for now I wouldn't use it for anything else. Put it on the floor in front of you and click treat (CT) any interest in it, even just a look. Gradually build up to nose touching it (NOT using his paw, very important!!), then the faintest glimmer of opening his mouth, then opening his mouth, then putting his mouth around it, then very slowly withold the click until he picks it up for a millisecond, and then build on that time. This is the groundwork, don't rush it, and make sure he really understands each stage, any sign of confusion go straight back a pace. When it is something that is essential groundwork, I tend to do each stage until he has it so strongly he almost never gets anything wrong, if he can't give me the behaviour within 5 secs then I go back a stage. Also it is really important you do this in tiny amounts of time, literally a few mins if that. I used to just take a handful of treats, do a rapid quickfire of CT and then finish for an hour or more, but did this several times a day. That way I could work through several minute stages in each day, but never moved more than one stage in a single session, and sometimes we didn't progress at all in a session.

Once you have him picking up the object really reliably, you can start to move it slightly further away, and throw his treat in the other direction too. So he picks up the object, you click, throw the treat away and move the object slightly away from where it was. This will teach him to go to the object to pick it up. Build this until you can throw the object about a foot away, but no further.

Then you need to teach him to move with the object. Assuming you have a really strong "hold" for a few secs, this shouldn't be too hard, just don't rush it. Wait until he has picked it up, then encourage him to move with it - any movement of his feet counts, and at the start just reward one step, then 2 steps etc etc, don't expect too much of him. Again, build it up really slowly and any time he gets it wrong give him a stroke and move the ring to set him up again. If he gets it wrong more than once or twice, back up a stage.

Once you have him carrying it over that short distance, you can start throwing it a little further each time. If you have got this far and done it properly, then you shouldn't have too much problem with adding distance.

Only when you have got the retrieve down very strongly do you add the command. Throw the ring, let him go and pick it up and as he comes back to you, give him the command "fetch Good boy". Do this several times. Then throw the ring and as he runs away give him the same command. When he has done this several times then you can start to hold him, throw the ring, then give him the "fetch" and verbally praise if he gets it right. Then you can build up asking him to sit or stay or whatever, throw the toy, give him the command and off he goes!! If you want to teach a formal present at the end you can do as a separate exercise and then add it on after the fetch command.

This might all seem very formal and rigid, but I found that by teaching it specifically like this, after a bit of time Horus was starting to retrieve toys that I threw as part of a tuggy game. He doesn't do it forever, but in the house and garden he will retrieve quite nicely a few times. I never push it, we do it once or twice, then 2 or 3 times, then 3-4 times, now 5-6 times trying never to throw it once too often so he never loses interest enough to stop.

Also, with the commands, I am telling you how I teach with a deaf dog, I have to teach the complete exercise before giving it a sign, so I see no reason why you can't do the same. As long as each session you just focus on the retrieve, and do it in the same place with the same object until you have taught it well enough to put a command to it, the clicker will be enough because he is working it out for himself. Don't make the mistake of using a command too early and ending up teaching him that fetch means "run off with the toy" or anything else.

And remember once you have a lovely retrieve in your original training place, you need to proof it in other rooms, outside, in the park etc and you might need to back step a bit for this.