Knowing which dog enrichment toys to buy or make will save you wasting money on the wrong thing. Enrichment toys for dogs keeps them busy, tired, and less likely to spend the afternoon working out how to open the bin.
I used to buy everything. If it looked clever or promised to keep a dog occupied for longer than ten seconds, I’d get it. Most of them worked once others more reliably. And some I could have replicated with a towel and a handful of kibble. Here’s what I’d buy again and what I wouldn’t bother with now that I know the difference.
What Makes an Enrichment Toy Worth Buying
A toy is worth buying if it does something you cannot replicate easily at home, lasts longer than a week, and continues to hold interest after the novelty wears off. Most homemade versions work brilliantly for food motivation and basic hide-and-seek tasks, but they fall apart quickly or require constant supervision.
The toys worth paying for tend to involve durability, adjustable difficulty, or a design that changes the task in a way cardboard and towels cannot. If you’re using the Dog Years to Human Years Calculator and realising your dog is getting older, the right enrichment toy becomes more important as physical exercise drops and mental work has to fill more of the gap.
What You Can Make at Home Without Losing Anything
Homemade options work when the goal is food motivation, scent work, or low-effort problem solving. They are not meant to last. They are meant to be replaced, which is the point.
- Snuffle mats. You can make one from a rubber mat and strips of fleece tied through the holes. Takes about an hour. Does the same job as the bought version and costs almost nothing if you have fabric lying around.
- Cardboard box puzzles. Boxes inside boxes with treats hidden in the layers. Rip a few holes in the sides. Let them shred it. Costs nothing and the destruction is part of the enrichment.
- Towel rolls. Lay treats along a towel, roll it up tight, let them unroll it. Works for every dog I’ve tried it with and you can make it harder by knotting the towel or folding it differently.
- Muffin tin game. Put treats in a muffin tin and cover each hole with a tennis ball. They have to lift the balls to get the food. Simple, effective, uses things you already own.
If you looking for more ideas, then check out 30 DIY Dog Enrichment Ideas That Cost Almost Nothing
Toys Worth Buying Because Homemade Versions Don’t Hold Up
1. Kong Classic
The standard black Kong lasts years, survives being frozen, chewed, thrown, and left outside in the rain. You can stuff it with anything and adjust the difficulty by how tightly you pack it or whether you freeze it. Homemade alternatives fall apart or become unsafe once they start breaking down.
I’ve tried making similar toys with silicone moulds or hollowed-out rubber balls. They either leak, split, or are not interesting enough to bother with once the easy food is gone. A Kong does the job better and you only buy it once.
2. Slow Feeder Bowls
You can make a version of this by putting a smaller bowl upside down inside a larger one, or scattering food across a baking tray. Both work. But a proper slow feeder bowl with ridges and angles does a better job of making the dog work for each piece, and it doesn’t slide across the floor or tip over.
If your dog eats too fast or needs the meal to last longer than thirty seconds, a slow feeder is worth the tenner. Homemade versions are fine for occasional use but are not practical daily.
3. Treat Dispensing Balls
The hard plastic ones with adjustable openings last indefinitely and you can control how hard the dog has to work. Homemade versions made from bottles or cardboard tubes work once or twice, then either get destroyed or lose their appeal because the difficulty cannot be adjusted.
A decent treat ball costs less than a bag of decent treats and gets used for years. Worth buying.
4. Lick Mats
You can spread peanut butter or wet food on a plate and get the same effect, but lick mats are textured in a way that makes the dog work harder and they are easier to freeze and clean. If you use them regularly, the bought version is more practical.
Homemade works fine if you’re trying the idea out. If it becomes a daily tool, buy a proper one.
5. Puzzle Feeders with Moving Parts
The ones with sliders, flaps, and compartments that require the dog to push, lift, or spin something to get the food. You cannot replicate these at home in any meaningful way. The design and the problem-solving element are what make them work.
They are not for every dog. Some lose interest quickly. Some solve them in two minutes and then ignore them. But for dogs that enjoy working things out, a good puzzle feeder is worth buying because there is no homemade equivalent that does the same thing.
Toys You Can Skip Because Homemade Works Just as Well
6. Rope Toys for Tug
Unless your dog destroys every piece of fabric in seconds, you can make a tug toy from old towels or T-shirts braided together. They last long enough and cost nothing. Bought rope toys are fine, but they are not doing anything a knotted towel cannot do.
7. Crinkle Toys
Stuff an empty plastic bottle inside an old sock. Tie the end. Same crinkle noise, same appeal, falls apart at the same rate as the shop-bought version.
8. Snuffle Balls
These are just fleece strips tied into a ball with treats hidden inside. You can make one in twenty minutes. The bought versions are tidier and last longer, but the homemade one works exactly the same way and costs almost nothing.
9. Cardboard Tube Puzzles
Toilet roll tubes stuffed with treats and the ends folded shut. Or kitchen roll tubes cut into rings and stacked inside a box. Free, works immediately, gets destroyed and replaced. No need to buy a version of this.
10. Digging Boxes
A plastic storage box filled with sand, soil, or shredded paper with toys or treats buried inside. Costs a few quid if you buy the box new, or nothing if you already have one. Some companies sell digging boxes for dogs at absurd prices. Do not bother. Make your own.
How to Decide What to Buy and What to Make
If the toy involves durability, adjustable difficulty, or a design you cannot replicate safely at home, buy it. If it is about hiding food in layers of fabric or cardboard, make it. If you are not sure, make a rough version first and see if your dog uses it more than once.
The toys that get used every day are worth buying properly. The ones that come out occasionally or get destroyed as part of the activity are fine to make at home and replace when needed. Neither approach is better. They just serve different purposes.
This article is for informational purposes only. For advice specific to your dog always speak to your vet.