Puzzling The Delicate Minds Of Grace & Benson (I-Qube Dog Puzzle)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	I-Qube Dog Puzzle
Date:	24/08/09 (126 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: High play value, strong & robust, mental exercise

Disadvantages: You will tire of the squeakers before the dog does!!!

*What is the I-Qube Dog Puzzle?*
This interactive dog toy is produced by the Interactive Puzzle company, who manufacturer a small range of plush interactive, puzzle solving dog toys- the I-Qube is their original and best selling toy.

*The product itself*
The 10th of August saw us setting off down to Cornwall for 4 days for a little break with the dogs in the caravan and living in Essex, this obviously meant a reasonably long car journey was on the cards, in which myself and Jason would take turns in driving.

Now, before we even set off, I knew very clearly what problem would arise. I would take the dogs for a nice long walk before we got in the car- they would then crash out on the back seat and sleep for a good couple of hours and then, a little way into our journey, they would be wide awake, refreshed, bouncing around, raring to go and not all impressed with being stuck on the back seat of a car! They would then find various small things to entertain themselves for an hour or so, such as looking out the window, having another little kip and chewing on the treats I would give them, but they would soon get very bored and very restless and begin to become right pains in the neck!

So in the week running up to our holiday, I decided it'd be a good idea to stock up on some new and exciting toys for them which could help entertain them on the car journey, so I logged onto the internet to have a little look around.

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted- I didn't want anything that released food as I didn't want them eating during the journey incase they were sick, I didn't want anything made from rock solid nylon like those Nylabones incase I had to break suddenly, and the hard toy got thrown around and hit them and lastly, I didn't want anything that would be easy to chew, as when driving, I obviously wouldn't be able to watch them closely and make sure they didn't swallow any particles. Because of my fussy checklist, options were limited, but I did come across this I-Qube Dog Puzzle and decided it'd be something Grace and Benson would enjoy, so I ordered one.

The I-Qube Puzzle is a soft plush toy that has been designed to sharpen your pets eye/paw co-ordinator skills as well as his puzzle solving skills in the form of a hollow cube with four cut out openings in which four soft plush balls fit into- the toy helps provide a source of mental exercise as the dog must figure out how to release the balls from the main cube part of the toy.

It claims to keep dogs entertained, active and busy for extended periods of time therefore eliminating boredom and helping to satisfy your dogs natural instinct to search, stalk and capture it's prey!

The cube and balls are made from non-toxic new materials that are machine washable, helping to make the toy quick and easy to keep hygienically clean.

*Packaging*
The I-Qube comes packaged in a clear plastic bag with a cardboard insert which gives all relevant information about the product such as instructions for use, how to clean the toy and a few minor safety warnings. As you would expect, there is also a contact for the manufacturers of the toy should you have any questions or comments.

*Price & Availability*
I've yet to see the I-Qube stocked in any offline pet stores although it seems to be pretty readily available from various places online. I purchased our I-Qube from Canine Concepts (www.canineconcepts.co.uk) where they stock all three sizes.

Junior (4.5 inch sides) - £8.99
Large (6.25 inch sides) - £10.99
Jumbo (7.5 inch sides) - £13.99

*My opinion*
As clever as Grace and Benson may be, they really lack in a couple of different areas! Firstly, they find it nigh on impossible to entertain themselves! Yes, I know it is my fault as I never really enforced the rule that sometimes they must simply be on their own for a bit when they were puppies and secondly, they can sometimes just be a bit, well, dim!

Those were the two main reasons for the purchase of this toy- if I actually hand them something to play with, they can generally make their own entertainment with it for a while and secondly, the I-Qube didn't look too demanding on their delicate little brains!

When it arrived, I was, on first impressions, very happy with it! I'd ordered the Jumbo size for Grace and Benson so at £13.99 it was hardly a cheap toy but I didn't mind too much because it did look very well made- although a soft plush toy, it seemed very strong with no loose stitching or areas where the dogs could get a head start on chewing and giving it the safety test of pulling it about a bit before giving to the dogs, I'm happy to report that nothing appeared to come unstitched or weaken. The four plush balls included with the toy were also made to a very high standard.

I had a little go with the toy before packing it away ready for our car journey and again, it really impressed me. All four balls fitted snugly into the cube part of the toy and took some relative force to remove from the cube- they didn't just fall out of the slots- the dogs would have to work at getting them out which was pleasing. Infact, the whole thing reminded me of one of those baby shape sorter toys!

Anyway, fast forward a week or so, a quarter of the way to Cornwall, the dogs did exactly as I predicted in waking up from their sleep all energized and raring to go, so after leaving to see if they would settle again, which they didn't, it was time for the I-Qube to be chucked onto the back seat for them.

Grace, bless her heart, is a typical girl- she takes a little while to get going after waking up, so it was the fluffy horror that is Benson that nabbed the toy first.

He certainly seemed very chuffed with it, and settled down for a go with it. He could obviously see the balls inside the cube, but for a good 20 minutes, was very baffled as to how he actually removed them! Paws were being stuck in, a nose poked through the slots and he even attempted to shake the thing to death, but he still failed to remove the balls. Around about here I was feeling very pleased with myself that I may have just found something that outsmarted him! Needless to say however, after another 20 minutes, he had managed to remove 3 out of 4 of the balls and was getting great entertainment from the whole thing.

At our next rest break to have a little rest from driving and let the dogs have a stretch of their legs, I had a quick look at the toy and was very pleased that it was still looking perfect and that Benson, thankfully, hadn't attempted to chew it. I put the balls back in the cube and when the dogs got back in the car, Grace decided to have a go with it.

She too, enjoyed it massively, it took her a little less time than it took Benson to remove the balls but even after removal, she still found great enjoyment playing with the empty cube part, tossing it around the back seat and generally just messing around with it. The mental exercise that the toy provided clearly worked very well as after they'd both had a game with the toy, they were quite happy to settle down for another little snooze.

They continued to come back to the I-Qube several other times after their snooze for the duration of journey and they really did love it- with the 4 balls and the cube it kind of provided 5 toys in one and it kept them nicely amused.

I was also very happy with the toy- initially I didn't know if they would get much use out of it- I thought it might be a simple case of them removing the balls and then discarding the thing but thankfully they proved me wrong and continued to get a lot of enjoyment from the toy, not only on our journey down to Cornwall, but also whilst at the campsite and then on the journey back.

Both the cube and the balls were soft and lightweight enough to play fetch with and because of them being able to be machine washed, it didn't really matter how dirty they got. I was also impressed at how robust the toy was, thankfully neither Grace or Benson took to chewing it, but it was well able to withstand their rough and tumble games they had with it at the campsite, as well as the repeated use whilst in the car.

My only little complaint with it though is that the balls squeak, and they are extremely irritating after a while! But overall, a nice decent little toy which is strong, robust, has high entertainment value and is also able to be used for fetch- a winner with both Grace and Benson, and also myself.

Summary: A highly recommended puzzle toy that makes a nice change from regular run of the mill dog toys.