KEEPING YOUR CAVALIER OCCUPIED - AMAZON'S BEST PRODUCTS TO STAY ENTERTAINED!

Keeping your CKCS busy is essential for effective training. It facilitates easier crate training, lessens destructive behaviors like chewing on shoes & furniture, eases teething discomfort, and provides a distraction from nipping or barking. It's best to have a toolkit of options on hand when training a puppy and then switching things up to keep things interesting.

This may seem like a big list, but it will likely take some trial and error to determine which methods will work for your puppy. Something they didn't love? Donate any stuff your puppy doesn't use or love to your neighborhood animal shelter so they can be given to puppies in need.

Here is the list of supplies we keep on hand::

CRATE TRAINING - Making the crate or pen somewhere your puppy likes to go is vital to crate training. It should be a safe area and provide some stimulation to cut down on boredom, barking, and whining. Feeding your puppy in the crate, while also offering stimulating treats, is one simple method to make that happen. Look for durable items that can be offered unattended when shopping for crate training items. Avoid anything that could choke your puppy (for example puzzle pieces or small toys), and never utilize rawhide (inside our outside of the crate). Here are our best recommendations on Amazon:

• STUFFED KONG – The Kong is a popular crate training chew toy. Although it can get messy, we prefer to fill them with different appetizing objects to have the puppy work for their food and amuse themselves in the crate. The size Kong you choose will depend on the size puppy. With Cavaliers, you should always start with the puppy size and only move up in size once your puppy has mastered or outgrown that size. The Kong Basic Puppy, Kong Puppy Tire & Kong Puppy Binkie are some of our favorite puppy Kongs. Again, all of these are stuffable. We'll share some of our favorite Kong stuffing recipes in a future post. 
• WEST PAW TOYS - West Paw is the manufacturer of two of our favorite toys. The first is Qwizl, which we adore for crate training (size small for this breed). Put some carrot sticks, apple slices, or use peanut butter (in small doses) to stick kibble inside. Toppl is another great option. Start with a single piece and then work to combining two pieces to create a great puppy puzzle for the crate. See more below.
• NYLABONE: This brand offers a range of items. Buying the softer puppy version is crucial for small-breed puppies. This puppy variety pack appeals to us because it enables you to determine your pooch's preferred flavor and style. Please be aware that one of these is an edible bone, and we only use it under supervision.
• LICK MATS – Lick mats are intended to calm dogs who use licking to relieve anxiety and to serve as a challenge for dogs to obtain food. Some of our dogs adore them, while others hardly care. We've discovered that freezing them and looking for healthier items to spread on them while crate training works best because a dog's stomach being full of sugary peanut butter is not a wonderful decision for a puppy in a crate because digestive problems may arise. We will provide a few lick-mat recipes related to Kong stuffing in the post. When we aren't home, we don't leave these in the crate because we've read that some dogs try to rip apart or eat the real toy (although our dogs have never tried that).

GENERAL CHEWING – Dogs chew for various reasons, such as boredom and teething. Determining the cause of your dog's chewing may assist you in selecting the ideal toy or item to reduce or eliminate the need to chew personal items. Additionally, increasing activity and mental stimulation through training is always the greatest remedy if your dog is just bored. These are a few of our preferred options for cerebral stimulation and teething:

• YAK CHEWS – These all-natural chews, which are actually hard cheese, are relatively new to the world of dog treats. If you are fortunate enough to have a dog who likes these, a single chew will frequently keep a puppy occupied for days and days. They are completely digestable, odorless, and carpet-safe. But you must keep an eye on your puppy while using them and take them away when they get too little. But don't worry; once the chew is small and poses a choking risk, you can soak them in water for a few hours, microwave them for a minute (or till it puffs up) and feed the resulting treat to your dog (once cooled).  
• BULLY STICKS – Bully sticks are a favorite among our dogs and young puppies. While giving your puppy bully sticks, you should always keep an eye on him or her, but this particular brand is sure to be a hit. Have a stick available for each dog in the house to avoid conflicts and resource guarding. Some individuals use stick holders to prolong the life of bully sticks and lessen the risk of choking. We do not leave bully sticks unattended in crates due to choking hazards. 
• TUG-A-JUG – This won't help with teething, but will aid with boredom and stimulation. The puppies will amuse themselves for hours in order to obtain a few treats. Puppies may beed to watch an older dog to get the hang of it, but if you have an only dog, help your puppy get a few goodies and they'll quickly figure it out.  Small kibble pieces or single ingredient treats are best to start with because they are simpler for novices to get out.
• ​TOPPL – Mentioned above, this is West Paw Toys' second product that we adore. We like using it as a snack and then as a puzzle. Get the tiny one for a puppy, then if they like it, go for the large one to make a treat puzzle for an older dog. Some fantastic usage examples are provided on their Amazon page for this toy!
• EARTH ANIMAL NO HIDES – Our dogs absolutely adore this healthy, digestible rawhide substitute that we found in our neighborhood pet store. For a quick treat, we use a single stick, and for extended chewing, we use a 4"size stick. Sadly, the local price is quite high, so we looked on Amazon and are currently purchasing in large quantities. In bulk buying, you can purchase 4" chews for less than $5 each and single sticks for less than $1 each. We'll always update this blog post with the most affordable bulk choice for our two favorite tastes (salmon & chicken). The other flavors- peanut butter, beef, & venison are also delicious, but we mostly use peanut butter for a lot of other goodies (like stuffing for Kong toys and lick mats), and we've discovered that beef may leave stains on carpet & animal fur. Check the following links:

• ​Best bulk for single sticks (chicken)Best bulk for single stick (salmon) (not currently a great price)
• Best bulk for 4" chews (chicken)
• Best bulk for 4" chews (salmon) (best bulk price)

​
TRAINING TREATS – Training your puppy is fantastic because it stimulates the mind and helps control undesirable behaviors, but also strengthens the bond between you and the puppy. The secret to successful training is to determine a reward that's meaningful to your puppy. For most pups. that's treats. Many dog treats include unhealthy substances and other items that could hurt your puppy, so please only train with high quality (preferably single ingredient) treats. 
 
Try several of these treats to find one your puppy truly appreciates. Here are some of our much-loved treats, but don't be shy about trying other homemade goodies like deli meat, ground beef, etc.
 

• Sojo's Freeze Dried Meat Treats – These treats have just one ingredient and are easy to break up for little puppies. To determine your dog's preference, try a sample pack. Due to their size & basic ingredients (which don't go bad if left open), these are our "go-to" training goodies. Having said that, we also need variety; thus, the others listed below are also advised.
  
  
• Zuke's Mini Natural Dog Treats – These wholesome ingredients have great size and won't break in your pocket or training pouch. The only drawback is that they smell a little, but maybe that's why our dogs adore them so much! We advise purchasing the sample pack of multiple flavors to determine your puppy's preferred flavor

 

• ​Stella & Chewy Treats – You may test out a variety of single-ingredient treats from this renowned manufacturer on your puppy for training purposes. Our older dogs adore the Carnivore Crunch, but because of their size, they might be trickier to train.

 

• Little Jacks Small Dog Training Treats –  These are the least nutritious of the goodies we provide, yet they are still superior to many commercial treats. Given that, these are excellent for hiding medicines, providing potty training, etc. We do not use these when we want to give out several treats.

Although the focus of this post has been on pups, we use every product here for our adult dogs too — we just size up on some Kong-style toys and don't cut the goodies in half! Best wishes on keeping your dog busy.

WANT TO LEARN MORE - See our other post related to this topic on WORKING FOR FOOD.

---