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Nina Ottosson dog puzzles are my favourite dog puzzles to use with my Patterdale terrier Blake for his enrichment. These dog puzzles are especially designed to both mentally and physically stimulate your dog. They are interactive dog toys that encourage your dog to search for the treats and move different parts of the toy to reach it. This is fantastic for terriers as it satisfies their instinct to work for their food.
About Nina Ottosson
Nina Ottoson is a Swedish dog trainer who bases her philosophy on the fact that dogs have four legs and one head, and all of these need to be used to stimulate the dog. Her personal story is that once she had her two children she found she had last time to spend stimulating her dog physically and mentally and so she wanted to design dog toys to be able to give them something to occupy their minds while they were in the house.
Advantages of Nina Ottosson Dog Puzzles
Nina Ottosson dog puzzles are great for many reasons…
- Designed with your dogs physical and mental stimulation in mind
- High Quality from Sweden
- Wooden and Plastic dog puzzles available
- Good value for money
- Different levels of difficulty
- Available for online delivery
I must admit I prefer the plastic ones, because the wooden ones in my experience can get destroyed quicker and actually when I put treats in my last wooden one it actually started to grow mould! This was only after a year of regular use though so even the wooden one was still worth it! But the plastic ones are very durable and hard wearing so we go for those ones now!
Different Levels of Difficulty
I love the fact that the Nina Ottosson dog puzzles are designed with varying levels of difficulty. This means that you can start out easy and when they have mastered the basics move up to the next level to keep them interested and challenged. Our Blake can do level 1 easily now and some level 2 puzzles, but he struggles with level 3. He is improving and learning all of the time.
- Level 1 – Beginners/Easy – Treat tumbles and pegs to lift and find treats underneath.
- Level 2 – Medium – Involves some of Level 1 plus slides and flips!
- Level 3 – Hard – More complex stages such as pulling levers before the flips. Usually more than one stage or two stages of finding the treat!
- Level 4 – The most challenging dog puzzle yet!
The Best Nina Ottosson Dog Puzzles
Level 1 Dog Puzzles – Easy
Level 1 puzzles have one basic step such as pushing for treats to come out of a ball or lifting pegs out of a hole to reveal a treat underneath. Our favourites are the composite, the dog smart and the treat tumble.
The Composite
The Composite was the first ever dog toy that we got for Blake the rescue Patterdale. It took him a while to figure that it was difficult with his paw and much easier if he lifts the pegs out and just tosses them out of the way! He can do it in seconds now – it’s amazing to watch!
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The Dog Smart
The Dog Smart is another hide and seek level 1 treat game for your dog and this time the pegs are bone shaped!
- BEGINNER DOG PUZZLE: The Dog Smart by Nina Ottosson is a level 1 interactive dog puzzle toy that will prepare your pup for more challenging games with simple one-step actions. Suitable for any breed and size.
- ENGAGING & MENTALLY STIMULATING: This interactive dog puzzle features 9 hidden compartments that are covered by 9 removable dog bone pieces. Hide your pup's favorite treats in the compartments and elevate the bone for an easier grab or leave them flush with the board for increased difficulty. Watch as your dog learns to nudge and paw away the bones to reveal the reward!
- REDUCES BOREDOM & DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR: The Dog Smart interactive dog treat puzzle provides your pup with a fun and rewarding game that can help redirect destructive behavior while supporting their mental wellbeing.
Treat Tumble
The Treat Tumble is a treat dispensing ball that your dog can bop to reveal the treats or kibble dog food. He can bop it with his nose or paw. It makes food last longer and makes your dog work for your food if you want to use it as a feeder.
- BEGINNER'S PUZZLE CHALLENGE: Start your pup's off with a level 1 Treat Tumble dog toy from Nina Ottosson by Outward Hound! This brightly-colored red and yellow large treat-dispensing ball is a fun way to introduce puzzle games to your pup.
- INTERACTIVE & SOLO PLAY: Fill this ball in through the holes with your dog's favorite treats and watch them go as they paw and nudge the ball around to get the tasty rewards! Play together or supervise your dog while they play solo.
- INDOOR & OUTDOOR FUN: The wipeable surface of the Treat Tumble dog puzzle makes it a go-to treat-dispensing toy for indoor and outdoor playtime!
Level 2 Dog Puzzles – Medium
Level 2 dog puzzles are medium level of difficulty and often combine 2 relatively easy stages such as slide AND lift. Our favourite level 2 dog puzzles are the Brick and the Dog Tornado.
The Brick
I love the Brick! It has two stages – slide and then peg lift and so it’s more of a challenge. Blake is now getting the hang of these level 2 puzzles!
- BOREDOM BUSTER INTERACTIVE DOG TOY: As one of our most popular intermediate level 2 designs, the Dog Brick interactive puzzle includes additional obstacles and combinations of steps that will keep your dog focused and mentally-stimulated as they search and sniff out the tasty treats!
- FLIP, LIFT, & SLIDE TO HIDE TREATS: The Nina Ottosson Dog Brick comes with 3 types of treat hiding compartments to test your furry' friends skills! Flip lid compartments open and slide to reveal two separate treat hiding spots while removable brick bones conceal the third hidden compartments in this puzzle dog toy.
- ENCOURAGES POSITIVE PLAY HABITS: This fun and rewarding puzzle is great for reducing anxious dog behavior and redirecting destructive behavior.
Dog Tornado
In this puzzle, aptly called the Dog Tornado, your dog has to ‘swoosh’ round the tornado AND then pick up and move the bone shaped peg before the treat is revealed! You might enjoy reading our Dog Tornado review – it’s one of Blake’s favourite puzzles!
- INTERMEDIATE DOG PUZZLE: Exercise your dog’s mind with the interactive level 2 Dog Tornado puzzle toy. This engaging dog treat dispenser provides a fun physical & mental challenge. Your pup will need to learn how to combine multiple steps to retrieve the hidden treat.
- BOREDOM BUSTER: With 12 hidden compartments and 3 dog bone covers you can vary the difficulty level of this stimulating dog puzzle to keep your furry friend excited and satisfied!
- EASY TO CLEAN: The Dog Tornado puzzle toy is easy to wash by hand with mild soap and warm water. Make sure all compartments are dry before using.
Level 3 Dog Puzzles
These level 3 dog puzzles are even harder still. They usually involve either 3 easy stages or 2 more difficult stages.
Dog Twister
On the Dog Twister your pooch has to unlock by pulling out the white lever, then slide the top panels to reveal the treat.
- ADVANCED LEVEL FUN: The Nina Ottosson level 3 Dog Twister puzzle dog toy is designed for advanced levels of problem-solving play that challenge your dog with learning sequential steps. A fun way for your smart pups to train their brain while redirecting destructive or negative behavior in an exciting way!
- SLIDE, PULL, & LOCK TO HIDE TREATS: Place the treats underneath the triangular block compartments and push in the white plastic tabs to lock the blocks in place. Your dog will have to lift the tabs sequentially to unlock the blocks and move them to reveal the treats!
- NO REMOVABLE PARTS & EASY TO CLEAN: Built in play pieces that don't come out when your dog plays to prevent choking. Durable construction also helps to keep this dog toy intact, making it your new go-to treat puzzle dog toy.
Blake knows about sliding the top panels, but he hasn’t figured out how to pull the lever yet as you can see from the video!
The Challenge Slider
On the Challenge Slider your do will have to move the slides to reveal treats underneath, but move them in certain orders – one at a time in different directions!
The Casino
The Casino is one of Nina Ottosson’s newer designs. It contains several stages to teach your dog sequential actions. With bones in unlocked position, open drawers and drop in treats or kibble. Then re-lock and your pooch is ready to go! For a longer puzzle experience use wet dog food and freeze!
- BOREDOM BUSTER INTERACTIVE DOG TOY: The Dog Casino is an advanced level 3 puzzle game that will challenge your dog's ability to learn sequential steps and combinations to seek and find hidden treats while keeping them mentally active. Great for redirecting destructive or negative behavior in a fun and exciting way!
- SWIVEL, PULL, & LOCK TO HIDE TREATS: Simply pull out the orange drawers, fill with treats,and push back in. Swivel the dog bone to lock the drawers for an added challenge or leave them in place get new dogs accustomed to the game.
- NO REMOVABLE PARTS & EASY TO CLEAN: Built in play pieces that don't come out when your dog plays to prevent choking. Durable construction also helps to keep this dog toy intact, making it your new go-to treat puzzle dog toy.
Level 4 – The Multipuzzle
Introducing Level 4 and the most difficuly Nina Ottosson dog puzzle is the Multipuzzle. With 24 hidden compartments, it’s the most complex puzzle yet! Your dog must use his or her problem solving skills to complete a series of rotating and sliding actions.
- MENTALLY-STIMULATING DOG PUZZLE GAME: The MultiPuzzle by Nina Ottosson is our most challenging dog puzzle yet! This level 4 puzzle requires your dog to complete a series of steps in the correct order to keep discovering more hidden treats! Dog treat puzzles are a great way to reduce boredom and provide mental enrichment for your pup. The MultiPuzzle is perfect for ultra smart dogs that have already mastered levels 1-3
- SPIN, SLIDE, HIDE, & SEEK: Place your dog's favorite treats or kibble under the sliders in the outer tray and in the center treat compartments. Slide the center covers and outer tiles over the compartments to hide the treats. For an extra challenge, put the ridged orange locks in place to secure the green square tiles. Encourage your dog to seek the treats and let the games begin
- 4 CHALLENGES, 1 PUZZLE: The level of difficulty of the MultiPuzzle can be adjusted as your dog learns! Between the moveable green tiles, spinning wheel, orange locks, and center sliders, your pup will stay busy working for those treat for a good while
Overall Verdict
Overall, we totally love these Nina Ottosson dog puzzles. They have helped to keep Blake focused when there are stresses, and keep him entertained when we are out (always supervise a dog using a toy before leaving it alone and leaving a dog with any toy involves an element of risk). There are other dog puzzle designers out there, be we think that nothing beats Nina Ottosson’s dog puzzles as they are the best we have found both in quality and design.
If you are looking for ways to physically and mentally stimulate your dog, consider a selection of enrichment activities that include licky mats, interactive toys and snuffle mats. You will notice that when your dog is focused there is less chance for bad behaviour, because his or her physical and mental needs are being met.
If you enjoyed this article you might also like to read about Nina Ottosson Dog Brick
