Buster Cube vs. Kong Toy

I've tried both the Buster Cube and the Kong toy with my dogs, and without a doubt, they prefer the Kong toys best.

Here's why.

Both dispense treats as your dog plays with them, but there are a number of other qualities that make the Kong toy much different.

The Buster Cube

A dog playing with the dice-shaped Buster Cube.

In the 1980's, I purchased the Buster Cube for my dog.

It was quite a novel idea at that time... a dog toy that could also dispense treats!

I mostly liked the the way the dog treats were dispensed according to your dog's determination... and the amount of time he spent playing with the toy.

The Buster Cube provides intermittent reinforcement, and you can actually regulate the degree to which you want the treats dispensed.

This was before Kongs had really caught on big, and everyone who saw my dog playing with the Buster Cube wanted one for their pet!

The Kong Toy

A few years later, I discovered Kong dog toys (...mostly after hearing everyone else raving about the effectiveness of Kongs as chew toys and treat dispensers), and I quickly realized that the Kong was a better product for a number of reasons:

The Kong is a quiet toy, while the Buster Cube is noisy (hard plastic rolling around on hard floors becomes disturbing after awhile)
The Kong dog toy accommodates the use of hard and soft treats, but you can't use soft treats in a Buster Cube because there's no way to clean out the inside.
The Kong toy can literally be chewed on for hours -- maybe even years -- without destroying it, while the Buster Cube is simply too big to fit within a dog's teeth.
The Kong chew toy is made of hard rubber and your dog is encouraged to toss/roll/throw it around, while the Buster Cube is made of hard plastic and could crack if dropped, kicked, or thrown.
These days, there are a number of different sizes and shapes and "toughness levels" of Kong toys to choose from, which makes the possibilities endless when it comes to stimulating your dog for hours on end.