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If you’re reading this, you probably already know how great puzzle toys can be for dogs. If you’re like me, you might even have a high-energy dog that takes to training games like a duck takes to water. So finding new challenges is both fun and, well, challenging. The Arf Pets dog treat dispenser is an intriguing internet-famous memory training puzzle toy that makes your dog work for their kibble—so we decided to review it and put it to the test.
How Does the Arf Pets Treat Dispenser Work?
The Arf Pets treat dispenser is a memory-training puzzle toy with two components: a paw-sized, battery-operated remote button, and a small automatic feeder that releases a pre-set amount of kibble or treats when the button is pushed.
The goal is to teach your dog to press the button in order to receive a treat—a project that promises a variety of levels of challenge, including training your dog to the toy in the first place.
Since Pepper is on record here at Rover as being up for training challenges, a review of the Arf Pets treat dispenser was right up her alley.
The Arf Pets treat dispenser comes with the following:
- Remote button with two sound settings—you need three AAA batteries for it (which aren’t included)
- Accessories for the button: a suction cup for vertical mounting, a plastic peg for staking it outside, and a rubber ring to hold it stable and to make the button more visible
- Treat dispenser
- Info sheet with tips on how to train your dog with the toy
- USB cord to plug in the dispenser
- Scoop for putting kibble or treats into the dispenser
Training a Dog to Use the Arf Pets Treat Dispenser
Introducing the Button
To train Pepper to play this game, I started with just the button. To power it up, I inserted the three batteries and flipped the switch to try out both of the sounds the button can make (we had no preference and tried out both for training).
I began by luring Pepper to touch the button by holding a treat on top of it. It took us about 10 minutes to get the first nose-on-button, then paw-on-button, with enough pressure to make the noise. We quit while we were ahead, and I brought out the button again the next day to review the lesson.
By the second day, Pepper was pushing the button pretty reliably to get a treat. It does require more force than you would think—so it may take your dog a minute to figure out that touching the button isn’t the same as putting pressure on it. A bit of trial and error was required—a few times I pushed the button myself to show her, or pushed it a little as she was getting the treat to give her the idea of the sound; then I tapered treats until they only came out when the sound happened.
Pepper uses both her nose and her paws—but her paws more often.
Introducing the Treat Dispenser
We brought the treat dispenser out at our third session. It works via a rotating plastic ball inside—you put your treats or kibble in that, then adjust the opening to increase or decrease how much food comes out. Put the ball back in the plastic dispenser, push the button to “on” so that it will talk to the remote button, and put the lid back on. Pull the tray out. Now, when your dog pushes the button, the machine rotates the ball and sends some treats out into the attached tray.
The training suggestions included with the toy (warning, it’s helpful but very text-dense) suggest putting the treat in the dispenser tray manually when your pet hits the button so they begin associating it with the button. You can also attach the button (sans rubber disk) on the sides or back of the machine itself so it’s more like one unit.
We just put the button near the dispenser and quickly put a treat in the tray as soon as Pepper pushed the button. Pepper figured this out really quickly, so we moved on to plugging the machine in and filling it.
I hoped that hearing the button noise, then hearing the dispenser ball rotate would make a really clear association for her. That worked, and we were able to begin to move the button farther away from the dispenser, all the way into another room.
We started with the button right near the dispenser.
At times, she would linger over the dispenser and try to knock it around to knock treats loose—it makes sense, since her other food-dispensing puzzle toys, the Kong and Bob-a-Lot, basically work this way. After a little while, though, she lingered less and went instead to find the button, or she would sit and look at me expectantly. To cue her, I would tell her to “go find the button.”
There were treats in there in the split second before this shot.
If you wanted to reverse the challenge—let’s say you have the button in front of your dog but want them to find the dispenser instead, you can do that, but you need to get some massive (four baby Cs) batteries for the dispenser to make it work without the cable.
Other Ways To Try the Arf Pets Treat Dispenser Puzzle Toy
The fun part about this toy is the different ways you can increase the challenge, mostly by moving the button. The included suction cup can be attached to the button so you can stick it on vertical surfaces. There’s a peg that allows you to stake the button outside—make it an entirely an outdoor game or have your pup go inside and out between the button and dispenser.
Pros:
- Versatile; once your dog gets the basics down, you can play with ideas for button or dispenser placement
- Works great for food-motivated pups and can be used as a slow feeder for meals too
- It’s a bonding exercise for you and your dog
- Simple for pet parents to figure out and assemble out of the box
- Your dog gets mental and physical exercise as they run from the button to the dispenser
Cons:
- Dispenser is mostly tethered to a wall with an outlet
- You can’t control the dispensing that well, even with the variable food opening
- This only works for food-motivated pups
- It’s not hands-off—pup parents need to keep an eye on when it’s time for the game to be over
Recommendation: The Arf Pets Treat Dispenser Is Great for Advanced Puzzle Solvers
The Arf Pets treat dispensing puzzle toy gets our enthusiastic thumbs and paws up, if you’ve got a smart pup who loves a challenge and is food-motivated—and if you enjoy training your dog to new tricks. It’s pricey enough that you want to be sure your dog is up to this kind of challenge, perhaps via other puzzle toys, before investing in this one. (That said, it beats the price of some techier toys that do less.)
We got a lot out of putting the button in different rooms and getting Pepper to go tap it, then going to the treat dispenser to see what came out. I could see this being a novel way of potentially slow feeding a dog’s dinner, or doing a 10-minute brain-game session. It does need to be monitored, and the company’s tip on making sure you signal to your dog when the game is starting and when it’s ending (followed by putting away the toy) is a good one, so your dog doesn’t obsess over getting more treats to appear.
Before I started with this review, I wondered why I’d bother with a toy like the Arf Pets treat dispenser, when I can just hide treats around the house and play “go find it” to hone Pepper’s nosework. But I could see how this puzzle toy is a completely different way to play “go find it,” relying less on nosework and more on memory and problem-solving.
Who it’s for:
- Dogs who seem to enjoy complex puzzles, or who already have some puzzle experience
- Those who might enjoy the bonding aspect of this training toy
- Food-motivated dogs
Who it’s not for:
- Dogs who get frustrated quickly
- If you’re looking for a puzzle toy that requires less pet parent time at the outset
