Kirby and the Yummy Ball

In nature a pig would have to root around covering a good bit of area to dig up food. We wanted Kirby to work for her meals so I found a ball that was meant for dogs. It is called a tricky treat ball. It has compartments inside so when you fill it with food it has to be rolled around to get the food out.

Every morning and every evening I tell Kirby "go to your room", and she runs into her pen. I have found that trying to fill her ball while she is out is too much of a challenge and toes tend to be bruised. So I fill up the ball and drop it into her pen where she pushes it around until it is empty. She knows when it is empty and the only time that she pushes an empty ball around is when she is trying to get us to give her food.

On rainy or super cold days when Kirby can't spend time outside I will put low calorie treats (Kirby's favorite are Gerber fruit puffs) and raisins and she pushes it around the house. This is a great way to get pent up energy out and bring on a nap.