I have a great kong recipe in my blog! Ranger is a pro-kong destuffer so I've had to figure out a way to make them last. Here's my go-to recipe that will last Ranger 1.5 hours.
You'll need:
- stinky bits (smelly soft dog cookies, cheese, hot dogs, whatever)
- something mushy/gooey (smashed banana, pumpkin puree, fruitables etc. Some people use applesauce but i find it leaks too much and is messy)
- good sized dog cookies that barely squeeze into the kong OR some kibble
- peanut butter
The kibble or big cookies depends on how adept your dog is at de-stuffing kongs. For the pros, definitely the big sized cookies. For the dogs that are just learning, stick with kibble.
Then,
1. Holding the kong big-hole up, drop the stinky bits into the kong.
2. Smush up the mooey stuff - banana, pumpkin etc. If you're using kibble, mush the kibble and gooey stuff together before spooning it into the kong. If you're not using kibble, spoon in the gooey stuff.
3. Add the big cookies. You want cookies that will just barely squeeze into the big hole of the kong. Ranger has an XL kong, so i can only squeeze in 2-3 cookies. (The gooey stuff wedges itself between the cookies in the kong).
4. Top with peanut butter. I sometimes put a stinky cookie in the peanut butter.
5. Freeze for at least a day. I like having two kongs, so one is always freezing. Right now the kong in the freezer has been in there for 3 days.
I made Ranger a kong with this:
- Cloud Star bacon and cheese buddy biscuits
- Pumpkin and banana mashed together
- 3 big peanut butter dog cookies
- Peanut butter
I also did this:
- Cheddar cheese in bottom
- 1 tbsp Melted cream cheese
- Frozen cranberries
- Apple sauce
Amazingly, he liked it, but it made a huge mess.
For extra weight (since ranger loses weight in the winter), i do this:
- Cloud Star buddy biscuits (any flavour so long as they're the soft cookies)
- Pumpkin
- EVO red meat or Orijen red meat kibble (mix the kibble and pumpkin together before adding)
- Peanut butter
I can get about 3/4 cup of kibble in a kong so the kibble plus peanut butter makes it a very high calorie kong which is exactly what's needed.
In the summer, I do the same as the first recipe, but I plug up the bottom of the kong (small hole) with peanut butter, stuff it as described, then slowly fill it with water, then seal the top of it. I put it in a plastic glass (in case of leakage) and put it in the freezer. It makes a huge mess, but the ice melts and cools off his paws when it's a hot summer day!
edit: just saw you wanted to keep weight down, in that case use a lot of gooey stuff like banana and pumpkin or even a mashed cooked sweet potato, wedge some low calorie dog cookies in there and just smear the top with a touch of peanut butter. I usually only use a teaspoon of peanut butter. The stinky bits at the bottom are essential for keeping a dog's interest in the kong, I've found. Ranger likes his a lot without peanut butter but isn't as interested without the stinky bits at the bottom.