REVIEW: The Dog Tornado

    

     The Dog Tornado is an interactive, treat delivery toy designed by Nina Ottosson from Sweden.  It encourages problem solving by providing a not readily accessible treat lure.  How accessible the treat is depends on the innate ingenuity of your dog (his or her problem solving ability) and also the level of his need for treats (his or her degree of food motivation).  The idea is to load each compartment on the three levels with a treat and align the wooden discs so that the compartments aren't visible.  Your dog will use his keen sense of smell to detect the treats but he or she will have to work out how to get them.  The three discs spin freely, alternately exposing and hiding the treat compartments.  This can provide hours, minutes or seconds of fun depending on the dog.  This toy, unlike other treat delivery toys, is meant to be used under the supervision of the owner.  Being entirely made of wood, it is not meant to be popped into the crate with your Labrador to occupy his time while you are at work.  It would be an expensive and potentially dangerous chew toy. No, this toy is meant to be enjoyed by both dog and owner.  What proud dog owner wouldn't want to say, "Your dog couldn't figure out the Dog Tornado?  Too bad. Yeah, it only took Fluffy two seconds to find out where the treats were in that thing."  That's the human- animal bond right there.

     Our guest reviewer for this toy is Kirah.  Kirah is a five year old Pomeranian mix owned by Cindy Lopez.  On the smarty-pants level from 1 to 10 this dog rates about an 11.  The Dog Tornado didn't stand a chance.  On her first experience with the toy Kirah was able to access all of the treats in a couple of minutes.  We reloaded the compartments with freeze dried liver and also some of her regular kibble.  She was able to access all of the compartments but ignored the ones with the kibble, proving that Kirah is able to evaluate the return on her investment of time.  The video shows Kirah on her third encounter using a tongue approach to access the treats. Strictly speaking this is cheating but this girl is ingenious.

     I would rate the Dog Tornado a Good to Excellent in the Playabilty/Entertainment category.  The only thing it is lacking is the ability to increase the difficulty.  With a dog like Kirah this is important.  Nina Ottosson  offers a good selection of similar treat delivery toys and I would suggest that the Dog Tornado is one of the easier to master.  If you and your dog tire of the Tornado you can go on to the next level but that is an expensive proposition- each toy being in the $40- $60 range.  Again, I think the ability to increase the level of difficulty should have been included in the toy itself.  The website shows a block that can be inserted in the Tornado to stop the discs from spinning.  The dog needs to learn to remove the block in order to get the game going again.  I was unable to find where to get the block and besides I think it should have been included with the toy.  There is a second generation of Nina Ottosson toys made of plastic so maybe that problem has been addressed.  We will have to check it out.  These toys are available online through Amazon and various other online retailers.  I purchased mine at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley where they had a decent selection.  Nina Ottosson has a website- http://www.nina-ottosson.com/.  I have included some videos of her toys on the Video Bar at the bottom of this page. 

     As to Durability and Safety I would rate this toy as Good if used properly.  Obviously if you let your dog chew on it the toy will not last very long and the function would be impaired.   If your dog is able to chew off and ingest pieces of the toy they may cause an obstruction which would necessitate a visit to the vet.  I would stress again that this toy is meant to be used under the direct supervision of the owner.  That is essential to both its durability and safety. Having said that please avoid dropping it on your foot as well.

     Oh yes, I don't know why it is called the "Dog Tornardo" on the box- Swedish for tornado or bad proofing?