Rottweiler Hearts Rescue: KONG Toys Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

The Kongs are used to entertain and train our foster dogs. They are often filled with goodies and given to the dogs when they are first put in crates. This helps ease anxiety for dogs during crate training as it gives them something to distract them.

All of our dogs are kept in individual foster homes. Kongs serve as great, high-quality, durable toys for the dogs. They serve as good training tools to teach our dogs appropriate toys to chew on. They also stand up well to some tough chewers! Filling them with goodies also makes them more interactive and helps the dog with problem-solving skills.

How many pets did this grant help?

at least 10

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Jewel is a dog who has been immensely helped by the KONG grant. When we got Jewel, we learned that BOTH back legs had torn cruciate ligaments, meaning this poor girl would need two ACL surgeries, each one followed by 4-6 weeks of crate rest. Being a younger, very playful dog, I knew she wouldn’t handle crate rest well. We keep our freezer stocked with multiple Kongs filled with peanut butter, yogurt, carrot pieces, kibble, bananas, and any combination of the above. Freezing them makes them last longer. These frozen goodies are great for entertaining Jewel and letting her get some physical and mental stimulation while confined to a crate. She goes through 3-4 Kongs per day! The Kong grant really helped us be able to ensure that we had enough Kongs to make her crate rest a bit easier on her and us! Attached is a picture of her confined in her crate enjoying a yogurt-and-carrot Kong. The other picture is also of her, pre-surgery. She is such a sweet girl and I am so grateful for Kong’s help in making her rehab a bit more manageable.