No interest in treat toys
 

I just spent $20 on a Buster Ball treat puzzle thingy, and Scarlett couldn't care less about the thing. Anyone else have a similar experience with treat dispensing toys?

Did you play with it with her? Or put a piece of chicken in it?

I put a little peanut butter in it and played with him with it. He loved it.

And now the dumb thing is broken. It won't let me open it to put anything in!

Same reaction from Taffy! Doesn't care for food-toys.
 

Don't feel bad if your little pup doesn't get excited over food toys. I got Taffy a "Kong" toy (a small one of course) because one of my friend's dogs, a lab/sheltie mix loved hers. Well, I tried different mixtures...it turned-out that plain old peanut butter was the "flavor of choice" for Taffy, but once the "easy to reach" peanut butter was all gone, the Kong was totally abandoned! Also, once Kong sat for more than a day, the reidue got funky and hard. I really had to work with a baby-bottle-brush to get the old peanut butter out of the middle of the Kong where it fell. I tried it a couple more times. No luck! The only place we could safely use it was in our kitchen, we sure didn't want peanut + salivary goo on the den rugs or the bedrooms! Gave the washed Kong away to another friend with a Jack Russell terrier who wants to chew on everything in sight. He would chew on it with or without anything in it! GIZMO LOVES TO CHEW!!
Taffy likes real meat treats, he ignores Milkbones and most biscuit-style treats. So, we have recently discovered the Wellness "Pure Rewards" meat-jerky. (Made in the USA!). They come in 4 flavors in 5"x 7" bags at the local, family-owned pet store. (Warning...they're not cheap!) Now, you can break these little semisoft rectangles into smaller pieces if you wish, I do! They store with no problem in their own zip-closure bags! Taffy likes the Salmon+Turkey or the Venison+Salmon. The Co. Says, all natural meat, grain free, with minimal, all natural preservatives!! (If you are not sure about your pup's reaction, keep your "store receipt", the company says to take any "unused portion in its package back to the place of purchase for full refund or exchange". It worked; I tried their Wellness "Meat & Veggie blend" which is cheaper, but Taffy just let it sit there and walked off. After 2 more days, I finally took the Wellness meat+veggie blend back with the receipt, and Russell, the co-manager, told me to just go back and get the all-meat blend Taffy loved. (It cost @ $2.00 more.) He gobbled the piece down as soon as we did our "sit and lay down tricks" when I got home!
I have been able to find "Made in USA" chicken strips at the County co-operative farm bureau. All the others brands in all the pet stores were made in China with warnings that meat was treated with "radiation process" to kill germs. (Our vet won't approve those!) So we stay away from the Chinese dog food items.

Scarlett is definitely a cheap toy girl. She likes her squeaky pig from Walmart. old shoes, and and old rags! Today I got bubbles and a hula hoop at the dollar tree for her to play with. I'm going to sell her Buster Ball on one of the the Trash and Treasure pages that has popped up on Facebook! Glad you like Wellness stips. Scarlett likes those chicken strips too. I'm thinking about trying her on Wellness food as well.

Wellness Doggie Foods
 

Hello Yorkie Yakker,
I think you will like the Wellness food products. The manager of our local family-owned pet store,Pets 'n Pals, said he has raised his 2 West Highland White Terriors on Wellness Brand. I get all of their basic meat blends, they come in blue, green, orange, purple, and red cans depending on the type of meat. I always drop in 2 cans of the Wellness Puppy Blend because the first 3 ingredients are chicken, chicken broth, and salmon, plus it contains fruits & veggies! The company has dry kibble for puppies and different sizes of dogs. I get Taffy their smaller bag that says "Wellness Small Breed, Super 5 Blend", the bag is gold and purple and runs @ $14.95, but I follow their suggestions and do a dry & canned food mix for his breakfast & dinner. He eats @3/4 to 1 cup of the mix that I just mash together w/ a fork in his bowl twice a day....he is 5 1/4 --5 1/2 pound range. Since he eats a mixture, it takes him @ 2-3 days to finish one can and the dry kibble lasts for 2 months! If you look on the back of their dry food bag, the Wellness Company will give you the proper ratio of dry + canned foods to mix!
When I saw a man buying 2 Huge bags of dry kibble for his German Shepherd, I was So glad I was just feeding a little Yorkie!! He said those big bags would be gone before the end of a month...his big dog ate @ 4 cups per meal...$$$

These are Peanut's favorite treat. He goes nuts for them. Runs to the kitchen when he hears me grab the bag. I usually get him the green, Turkey. He did love the Salmon and Turkey, but his Daddy complained about the smell that was left on his hands after washing.. I wasn't able to smell anything after I washed my hands, but whatever. Peanut is happy with the Turkey. The Petsmart I go to usually only has the Turkey. :rolleyes:

Mini Kongs
 

Same thing happened to me. I am brand new to Yorkies and this site and I am used to big dogs. I got Sadie, the 4 year old Yorkie of my dreams and went and bought all kinds of toys. Some of them she will play with like a rope and the long dog with the squeaky in it as long as I am playing with her, but as far as the Mini Kong I put liver treats in it and peanut butter on the outside and most of the peanut butter was licked off but the treats are still inside festering. :D

I tied a piece of white elastic to the back of a chair and one on the end of a stairwell banister. I then tied a soft cloth ball that has loops all over it to the other end along with a plastic cat bell. Having it just about out of reach drives my little Zoey crazy . She loves jumping up grabbing it and shakes it like crazy before letting it go and sends it flying thru the air. Hours of enjoyment. The other one I tied a kong ball with a crinkly butterfly barely peeking out thru holes. First thing she plays with in the morning and last at night. so funny to watch!

Also try pets r us cat tunnel. It has a bell and ball hanging down in the middle of a 3 way nylon tunnel. She loves sneaking up on it and grabbing these and shooting out the other side dragging it as far as she can . So funny! Of course always supervise but it remains quite sturdy.

If you want to go cheap, you can buy a pack of just the squeakers, put it in a sock and sew/tie the open end. Instant homemade stuffless squeaker toy. Tada!

Its more the treat than the toy
Your pups will go after the toy but only if they have to get at what's inside
If you have a dog that loves a specific treat and will do anything to get it then these toys will work for you
If not a Yorkies not gonna play
Their attention span isn't long enough to play with these kinds a toys without a Big incentive

Taffy has a low basket with his toys inside. He always takes out one of his tiny yellow tennis balls in the morning for a 'run and fetch' game . He later will grab his old nubby-material "elephant" for tug and toss games. If we get to absorbed watching t.v. shows, he will take out several other toys and drop them on our feet or lap to get our attention. Ha! When he is finished with playing, he discards toys over by his basket and then curls-up on one of our laps for a nice nap.