LICKIMAT WOBBLE $16
If there is something I can hand my dogs that will keep them happily occupied on a day where I have two Zooms in a row, I want it. Enter the LickiMat Wobbler. Essentially a rubber bowl with the now-classic “Licki” textured interior, the motion offered by the bowl represents a leap in the company’s pioneering concept.
LickiMat burst onto the scene a few years ago with their natural-rubber squares that had just enough of a raised design to make it time-consuming for dogs to remove the peanut butter, yogurt, or canned food owners smeared on there.
While my dogs like the regular LickiMats, there was variation in their devotion to the task. Some dogs stay on the job until every bit was cleaned off, but others give it a quick swipe and are done. The beauty of the Wobbler is that – it wobbles! Suddenly there’s more to this activity than just cleaning out the crevices, which means that even my dog who gave up on the flat LickiMat is all-in as the Wobbler flips and slips out of her grasp. “Hard-to-get” is a good thing for a dog toy!
The Wobbler comes in four colors, is freezer safe (in fact, freezing is encouraged!), dishwasher safe, and even microwave safe if you want to warm up the experience.
Initially, we were more excited by LickiMat’s Splash – another new bowl-shaped toy with a textured interior, but designed to suction onto a smooth surface. We found that the suction was too weak to hold the bowl in place on a shower wall or even a smooth tile floor; it didn’t provide the holding power for keeping a dog occupied in the bath (as just one of its suggested uses). For now, skip the Splash and buy the Wobble. – K.C.
