Sierra’s New Toys

Mar 23, 20102 min read

Updated: Jan 30, 2021

I have to admit I’ve been getting a real kick out of having a dog who is interested in toys but won’t eviscerate them in the space of seconds. Sierra and I have been exploring various interactive puzzle-solving toys together, including the previously reviewed Aikiou. We recently tried out two Nina Ottosson toys. Nina is a Swede with a crisp, stylish sense of design and an entire line of clever puzzle toys for dogs.

The Dog Tornado has 3 circular layers that spin around to reveal hidden food treats. Here’s a video of Sierra working it; it didn’t take long for her to catch on. The Dog Brick, however, has presented a higher level of difficulty. We’re working up to it. The Brick is similar to the Aikiou in that sliders must be moved to reveal treats. But whereas the Aikiou has 2-compartment, 1-slider type challenges, the Brick has 3-slider rows where more problem solving and manipulation is needed. We’re taking it slowly, because Sierra still tends to shut down sometimes if she gets overly frustrated. But we’ll get there.

Today at a local thrift shop, I spied a long, fuzzy-tailed something hanging over the edge of a cart. Upon closer examination, it turned out to be the very toy I’d been wondering about lately—I didn’t know whether it still existed. According to Google, it’s called a Weazel Ball. It consists of a hard plastic ball that, when a battery is inserted, rolls around unpredictably. The fun part is the long, fuzzy “weasel” attached to it. The first time Sierra saw the toy in action she was interested but also a bit afraid, especially when the fuzzy thing she’d been stalking suddenly started rolling toward her! I only let her play with it for a few minutes, then put it away. I tried it again a few hours later, and this time she was less afraid, and even got her paw on the weasel…well, you’ll see. Here’s the video. I’m still only allowing her to play with it a few minutes at a time, so that it will retain its high value. Did I mention how much fun I’m having with all of this?

Enjoy the videos, and we’ll keep you posted on our play adventures!

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