Omega Paws Tricky Treats dog toy: Dude, what is up with your dogs’ balls?

Author's Rating:

Pros: Fun for active dogs to chase, ease to use, easy to clean, durable

Cons: Not so much fun for lazy dogs

The Bottom Line: 
Finally, your dogs licking their balls in front of company won’t embarrass you. It just means they like their Tricky Treats!

Author's Review
I own two dogs, a French Bulldog named Betty and a Pug named Daisy. They are about as active as glaciers and getting to look a little like me around the mid section. I had to find a way to get these doggies moving for more than just the doorbell. I found Tricky Treats by Omega Paws.

What is a Tricky Treat?
I came across these while wandering the aisles of my local doggie super mart. They are hollow, soft vinyl balls. You can fit dog treats or food into the holes of the Tricky Treat. You then drop the ball and step back and watch the excitement begin.

The Tricky Treat dog toy is made with rounded notches taken from the side. This makes the ball change directions unexpectedly as it moves. This will trigger your pooch to get even more excited as the ball appears to be trying to get away. The five-inch ball will skip and thump across the floor dropping the treats from inside.

Tricky Treats are fun for dogs and the bright orange color makes it easy to find. The vinyl will not mark your floors and is soft enough for a strong-mouthed dog to grab without harming the teeth.

Betty’s and Daisy’s Epinions
My dogs are lazy and that is not meant as a slight on their characters. For me it is one of their strongest traits and makes me feel better about myself. Who wants a dog in better shape than yourself? It makes you look bad. But being concerned for their health, I wanted to get them more active. Taking walks in the winter in Nebraska is darn near suicide. Tricky Treats I thought, could be the answer.

Made by Omega Paw, the people that brought us the magical self-cleaning kitty litter box, Tricky Treats is a new wrinkle on an old dog toy. There have been other toys of the same premise. I like Tricky Treats because the toy feels safer to me than some of the others. My girls are small dogs and they need small toys. Daisy is getting older and has already lost a tooth to a braided rope. I want to keep my floors safe too. Though the dogs could still twist a tooth off in the Tricky Treat I feel the vinyl is more forgiving then some of the hard rubber type toys.

The Tricky Treat will mimic fleeing prey as it stumbles around on the floor. This gets most dogs’ attention. Well, most active dogs anyway. You put the treats or dry dog food into the Tricky Treat then roll it across the floor and your dogs will key on it. My dogs however will patiently wait for it to stop moving, keenly watching its path for dropping food. Once they grab up the spilled treats they will proceed to gently roll the ball over to try to spill some more. This will go on for about 10 minutes till they exhaust the supply or themselves. Exercise it is not, entertaining to watch yes, but not exercise.

Without treats in the ball I took the Tricky Treat outside. Betty enjoyed me bouncing the ball off the ground. She would chase the toy across the yard and play keep away from me. Daisy would stare at me in distain. She is not into physical exertion if there is no food payoff. So the Tricky Treat dog toy can be used with or without treats to play with, depending on the dog.

Personal Impressions
All and all the Tricky Treat dog toy is a good dog toy. As exercise now I have used the ball instead of the food bowl for their second feeding. I put one in the kitchen and one in the dining room; they each have their own. It takes them about 10 minutes to get the food out. It only takes a small handful to fill the Tricky Treat and that is the serving size for the two anyway. It works out well for my girls and the Tricky Treats is easy to fill.

As a play toy, Betty seems to be the only one to really dig it. But she is younger and a little more sprite. Daisy is turning into a crotchety old lady and toys are too much hassle. Just show her the food.

The Tricky Treat is standing up well to playtime. My dogs are small with little real power in the jaw muscles. I am sure the Tricky Treat dog toy will stand up to most dogs abuse. The toy is pliable enough that bigger dogs will enjoy squishing the ball while smaller dogs will get there fun out of trying to get a hold of it. Small breeds will find the five-inch tall Tricky Treats dog toy a little intimidating but there is a Tricky Treat for cats that is only about two and a half inches tall.

The Tricky Treats dog toy is easy to clean in the sink. The food particles rinse out with ease. I would not use soap as it may be retained in the vinyl of the toy and harm the pooch.

Important note: If your dog does tear the toy, be sure to get loose pieces away immediately. Smaller pieces could choke the dog or cause intestinal blockage.

Fun Factor Watching the dogs is fun, I give it 4/5.
Exercise Factor Depends on the dog, 3/5
Durability Factor Tough enough for all but Superman’s hound 5/5
Safety Factor Made well enough to play with, not to leave out 100% of the time 4/5
Overall A basic but well made dog toy 4.5/5