If you spend much time on Facebook (or read Sophia Yin’s blog) you might have already heard about the Foobler. The Foobler is an innovative new interactive puzzle feeder for dogs.
I have many clients with young, active dogs. These clients are often interested in training or consultations because their dogs are spending too much time getting into trouble – they chew things up, dig holes in the yard, bark at everything that passes by, or engage in other unwanted behaviors. Often these dogs are very bored and do not have enough physical activity or mental stimulation. For these types of dogs, I often recommend that the owner feeds the dog in some sort of interactive food-dispensing toy, such as a Buster Cube or Tricky Treat Ball. Letting a dog forage for his food is a great way to keep him physically and mentally busy!
The Foobler is a food dispensing toy, but with one important twist. It has six compartments for treats or food, rather than just one. Even better, you can program the compartments to become available at certain time intervals throughout the day. So, you could set the Foobler so that one compartment would become available every hour. Then, at the beginning of the hour, a bell rings, letting your dog know that more food is available. If you’re planning to leave your dog home alone all afternoon, this gives you the ability to give him a fun game to play every hour for six hours. Pretty cool.
The Foobler is not available for sale to the general public yet. The creators are currently using the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to generate the money needed to start producing the Foobler. Check out their Kickstarter page and if you like what you see, I encourage you to support the project. For a $45 pledge, you can even receive your own Foobler once production starts.
As of the writing of this blog post, the creators have raised a bit more than 75% of their $40,000 goal. It looks like this project has a good chance of getting funded, but the creators need your help to get the rest of the way there. So, if you think the Foobler sounds like a great idea, please support this project and share it with your friends. I’ve already pledged, so look forward to reading a review of the Foobler on my blog sometime in the future!
Watch on YouTube: The Foobler
It sounds excellent! Do you think it’d work for a horse?
Hi Britta,
Great idea!
Especially since many horse people like feeding multiple small meals, rather than one big meal.
I sent a note on Kickstarter to the creators and they already replied. They said that they have considered doing a large animal version, but that it will probably be well down the line in the future. Production for the large animal version would probably be more expensive due to the additional size and durability requirements. So, it sounds like they’ll start with one size, but that a horse version might be available in the future if the dog version does well!
My thoughts are that it might work well for a miniature horse or donkey. I’m not sure if it would be durable enough for a large horse, especially if the horse tried to paw at it or kick it. But, I haven’t seen one in person yet.
cheers,
Mary
I want one for horses!
Yes, I think it would be great for the horses!
This sounds like such a good idea. Wishing you guys well with the money
raising
It does look like a real fun toy! Congratulations!
Foodler is a great way of feeding your dog. it also have an ability of providing fun to your dog enabling it to play for hours together 🙂
If it had lights it’d be ideal for my deaf dal mix!
Hi Andrew,
That would be great if it had lights. You should send them an email — they probably have not considered that and might be able to incorporate it into future models. I know they have been great so far about listening to feedback and suggestions.
There is a bluetooth model that I think you’ll be able to activate from a cell phone. I wonder if there would be a way to set it up in the same room with something that flashed, so that they were set to go off at the same time? The two devices wouldn’t be connected, but that shouldn’t matter to the dog if the timing was right.
cheers,
Mary