★★★★★ 5
Like unto the Holy Grail of food toys. [I recommend buying the separate treat mold, too.]
Size: Large, Color: Green
So far, I have no complaints. I can see that this toy might not work well for some combinations of dogs and people, but for my two current dogs (blue heeler and small terrier), this thing, plus the treat mold, is GREAT!
I love that the dogs get it more or less fully emptied, and it is washable. I love that I can pre-prepare a whole bunch of frozen fillings by using the treat mold (sold separately).
Yes, I agree that this is a very expensive item, especially if you buy the treat mold along with the toy. I bought two toys at a very reduced price on Prime day, also bought the treat mold at full price, and consider the combined purchase a great value at this cost. The current price (for the toy) is comparable to the cost of an extra-large Toppl, and I've seen it at a price similar to the current cost of a large Toppl. I checked the current price of the XXL "extreme" Kong I needed to use for one dog, and the current price on a different web site is almost the same as the Woof Pupsicle.
To answer questions and issues I've seen mentioned...
* My terrier weighs 16 pounds and uses the large toy with no problem. Possibly it is minimally less thoroughly cleaned out, but I'm not positive about that. My only warning would be that you ought to keep track of calories and/or what you put in it because you could potentially give a small dog way too many empty calories from "junk food."
* The toy is still usable without the treat mold. Just fill up the solid half of the toy and stick it in the freezer overnight, same as you would do with a Kong, except it takes up less space.
* Do introduce it properly, by initially giving it with NON-frozen and sticky food in it. An even more slow, careful, step-wise introduction may be necessary if your dog is a destructo-dog.
* The terrier takes about 20 minutes to empty it of frozen canned dog food. That's non-trivial, and I'm not sure why people are complaining. The heeler takes less time (maybe 15 minutes?), but it's still an amount of time that is helpful for me, and this licking activity seems to be especially calming for her (as compared to using the food puzzle toys with kibble).
* It initially was extremely difficult to open and close the thing. I was best able to do it with a "light" touch, not pulling and making sure not to press the two surfaces together. After not very long, it became much easier. I didn't need to use oil. If you have trouble getting it closed, it became a lot easier after the solid part was frozen (while the vented part stayed at room temperature).
* I agree with others that a larger version might be nice, but a larger version might make dogs more likely to destroy the toy in place of emptying it by focused licking.
* I'm not sure that any of these toys are truly indestructible. People are mentioning Kongs. Well, my Kongs have required periodic replacement. They have tooth marks and eventually get "modified" to where pieces might get torn off and consumed. For one dog, I had to upgrade to the XXL-size Extreme (black) version, and she also put tooth marks in that.
I own a fortune's worth of Kongs, Toppls, and a couple similar food toys, and they all have their issues. They have holes in them that allow liquid to immediately come out (before freezing occurs). They are bulky and use up a lot of space in the freezer, and the unusual shapes make them non-stackable. For me, Kong toys are time-consuming to fill and difficult to clean. My dogs couldn't get the very end cleaned out without throwing the Kong around (making a big mess), and even then it wasn't fully clean. Some did end up with mold in that part of them. [It looks like new inventions, like plugs (or something like that), may solve some of the problems; I didn't have those.]
I mention the other toys only to say that this unique brilliant toy has seeming solved all those problems, and my dogs truly LOVE this toy as well. Be assured, I will update this review if anything changes.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2023
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