UFO Puzzle

In my continued pursuit to find toys to keep my dogs inactive yet entertained, I purchased the the “UFO Interactive Push Button Food Treat Dispenser”. Mung Mung is the brand name of this flying saucer, shaped toy; hence the name UFO and it sells for $23.99 on Amazon. This toy is touted as an interactive, brain stimulating puzzle for dogs. It features a clear, center bubble in which you put kibble or tasty treats. Your dog needs to push on the bubble with their nose or paw in order to dispense the treat.

Trouble

Remember the game Trouble from your childhood, where you pushed the bubble to roll the die, this toy operates the same way. Instead of the die being rotated, in the UFO toy, several dog treats are released through six holes on the sides. When your pet pushes on the bubble, they are rewarded by treats dropping into the bowl where your dog is easily able to retrieve them.

Our smart little guy learned very quickly how to obtain the tasty bites by pushing the bubble with both his nose and his paw. He could even do this while wearing his “cone of shame”. The real trouble started when the dispenser became empty. Our guy, Dax, found a way to remove the bubble top container from the base. (Just to check that something hadn’t become trapped, we’re sure). When he was positive that there were no more undiscovered treats, he began carrying the bowl around in his mouth. https://youtube.com/shorts/OfIkZCL3euc?feature=share

We then had our other two quality control associates review the product, as an interactive toy/puzzle versus a meal feeder. They both found it easy to learn and had treats dropping regularly. The oldest reviewer became bored as soon as she figured out that there were no more morsels dropping. The 7-year-old thought it was extremely fun to flip the bowl with her paw to try to shake out any items that she may have missed. It did not seem overly challenging to her. Flipping the toy became her primary objective until we took it away from her.

Our final review of this particular toy/puzzle was that it might be stimulating for some dogs but for dogs that learn really quickly they created their own ways to interact with the toy in ways which was not as the product was intended.

Chewed Bubble Top

The product was made of non-durable materials not suitable for dogs that like to chew or aggressively interact with their toys. Both the bubble (treat) holder and the bottom (dispenser) bowl were made of brittle plastic that all the dogs chewed and one was able to break off pieces of the bubble top. This is definitely a toy that should not be left unattended with your pet, and could be dangerous if you did.

The dogs learned very quickly how to dispense the treats and there was no way to increase the difficulty or make it more challenging. All three QA consultants rapidly lost interest in the product within 10 minutes.

One Butt Wiggle

This toy may be appropriate for small dogs as well as dogs that need to slow down their eating pace. My three did not find it brain stimulating and it did not keep them busy for any meaningful length of time.

We rated this product at just one Butt Wiggle.

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