KONG Gyro Puppy – Small (Roll & Flip Treat Dispensing Toy)

KONG Gyro Puppy – Small

The Gyro is built as two pieces that work against each other: a centre orb that spins freely inside a static outer ring. A puppy pushes, paws and noses at it, the ring holds its ground, the orb rolls and flips, and kibble falls out of it a piece at a time. It turns a bowl of food into twenty minutes of work.

That is the whole value of it for a young dog — a puppy left alone with nothing to solve finds something of its own to solve, usually a skirting board. The Gyro is a rolling and dispensing toy rather than a chew, and KONG intend it that way; chewing on it should be redirected onto something made for teeth.

Performance & Benefits

• Spinning centre orb inside a static outer ring — the toy flips and rolls rather than simply trundling.
• Dispenses kibble or small treats as the puppy pushes, paws and noses it around.
• Rewards foraging, which is the behaviour that occupies a dog for longest.
• Slows a fast eater down when a meal is fed through it instead of from a bowl.
• Suits independent play, so a puppy has something to do while you are busy.
• Fill through the centre orb; it takes dry food and small treats.

Suitable For

• Puppies and small dogs, in the Small size.
• Feeding a meal as enrichment rather than from a bowl.
• Crate time, settling and the long afternoon of a puppy left on its own.
• Dogs that bolt their food and need a reason to slow down.
• Not a chew toy — a puppy that wants to destroy rather than solve needs a KONG Puppy rubber toy, which is made to be chewed.

How to Use

• Open the centre orb and fill it with dry kibble or small treats.
• Start it easy: large kibble that falls out quickly, on a hard floor, so the puppy learns the toy pays.
• Make it harder as the puppy gets the idea — smaller kibble, or carpet instead of tiles.
• Take the toy up between sessions so it stays interesting.
• Wash by hand in warm water with a mild detergent and dry it before refilling.

Specification

• Two-part treat-dispensing toy: a spinning centre orb within a static outer ring.
• Small size. KONG list the Gyro in Large and Small.
• KONG publish no dimensions, no weight and no material breakdown for the Gyro on their own website, so none is stated here. Figures of 12.7cm by 7.6cm and a 60/40 TPE-to-polypropylene split appear on retail listings but are not KONG’s.
• KONG do not list a separate Puppy version of the Gyro on their site; the puppy colourway is a pack variant of the same toy.
• Colour is supplied at random.

Care & Caution

• No toy is indestructible. Check the Gyro before every session and bin it if the ring has cracked or the orb has split.
• Discourage chewing — this toy is meant to be pushed and rolled, and a puppy that gnaws pieces off could swallow them.
• Supervise a puppy with any food-dispensing toy, particularly a puppy new to one.
• Count what goes into the toy against the day’s food, or the enrichment quietly becomes an extra meal.
• Take it away if two dogs start competing over it.