Top 10 Interactive Dog Toys in 2023 for Your Pup

Want a way to keep your dog entertained and healthy, without having to go on walk after walk? If so, you may be interested in an interactive dog toy that your dog can play with on their own.

The best interactive dog toys are fun enough to engage your dog, without requiring your time or attention. They’re a good source of exercise and mental stimulation. And hopefully, they’re durable and won’t cost a leg and a paw.

Read on to learn more about what you should look for in an interactive dog toy, plus a comparison of 10 of the most popular interactive dog toys on the market today.

Interactive Dog Toys Comparison Table

Here’s an overview of the 10 toys we’ll be reviewing below:

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Now let’s dive into each of these unique dog toys in more detail…

Interactive Dog Toy #1: Pet Fitness Robot

The Pet Fitness Robot is a cool example of what a smart dog toy can do. This little bone-shaped toy rolls around, goading your dog into playing with it. And to keep your dog’s attention, it intermittently releases a few dog treats.

It’s not exactly world-class exercise, and it’s not the equivalent of real interaction. But it can be a fine stop-gap for those days when you just don’t have enough time to play with your dog as much as you’d like.

Pros

• Fully interactive electronic dog toy
• Releases treats to keep your dog’s attention
• Comes with protective case

Cons

• Expensive
• Only provides light activity
• May be too small & fragile for bigger dogs

Features

• Price: $119.00
• Best For: Little dogs
• Durability: 7/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Light
• Special Feature: Rolls around and dispenses treats

Interactive Dog Toy #2: Bully Max Indestructible Dog Ball

No list of dog toys would be complete without our very own Indestructible Dog Ball. This is the ultimate chewing ball, which makes it a must-have for every dog. We’re so confident that it will never, ever break that we provide a lifetime replacement warranty.

Another great thing about this type of toy is that it can be as interactive or manual as you want. In other words, your dog can play with it alone, or together with you—making it a highly versatile dog toy.

Pros

• Indestructible, even for power chewers!
• Lifetime replacement warranty
• Floats in water & highly visible
• 100% safe, non-toxic, & dishwasher safe
• Built for all breeds, sizes, & ages

Cons

• Unlike some other toys on this list, it doesn’t have any special electronic parts (although in our experience, the more complicated toys are more likely to break)

Features

• Price: $16.95
• Best For: Power Chewers
• Durability: 10/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Variable (Low-High)
• Special Feature: Indestructible, floats in water, highly visible, non-toxic, & dishwasher-safe

Interactive Dog Toy #3: Puzzle Brick

The Puzzle Brick is a perfect example of a toy that provides mental (rather than physical) stimulation. This challenging dog toy forces your dog to solve a puzzle to get at the treats inside, which means if you’re short on time you can set up the puzzle and leave your dog to figure it out on their own.

(Just be warned: some dogs have learned that they can “throw” the toy against the wall as an easy way to get the food out. It’s cheating, but it works!)

Pros

• Provides mental stimulation
• Motivates your dog with the promise of treats

Cons

• Doesn’t provide physical exercise
• Hard chewers might just chew their way through the puzzle

Features

• Price: $19.99
• Best For: Curious or intelligent dogs
• Durability: 4/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Mental
• Special Feature:  Forces dogs to solve a fun challenge to earn treats

Interactive Dog Toy #4: Doggie Tail Interactive Plush Toy

The Doggie Tail Interactive Plush Toy is a fairly basic active dog toy that wiggles, vibrates, and barks as a way to encourage your dog to play with it. Its motion-activated play sessions are sure to keep your dog’s tail wagging…at least as long as it holds up, which isn’t likely to be too long. At least you can buy replacement covers after your dog rips it to shreds.

Pros

• Provides fairly good physical exercise
• Does a good job of encouraging your dog to play with it
• Requires batteries (which is better than having to recharge it after every use, in our opinion)

Cons

• Unfortunately, any dog that is even remotely a hard chewer will absolutely destroy this thing

Features

• Price: $15.93
• Best For: Gentle chewers
• Durability: 1/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Medium
• Special Feature: Wiggles, vibrates, & barks

Interactive Dog Toy #5: Snuffle Mat

We just saw a toy that forces your dog to solve a puzzle to get a treat. Now with the Snuffle Mat, here’s one that encourages your dog to sniff and forage for food. It’s a unique dog toy idea; the creators claim it improves sensitivity and stress release by mimicking the hunt for food in nature.

For the pricetag, you don’t have much to lose. It’s machine-washable, which is nice, though we have our concerns about how well it will hold up with a harder-chewing dog.

Pros

• Engages your dog’s sense of smell
• Mimics the natural hunt for food
• Machine washable

Cons

• Not very durable
• Doesn’t provide much physical exercise

Features

• Price: $25.74
• Best For: Small & medium dogs
• Durability: 3/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Mental
• Special Feature:  Lets dogs sniff and forage for food

Interactive Dog Toy #6: Wickedbone Smart Bone

The Wickedbone Smart Bone is a great example of a smart dog toy. This bone-shaped toy is programmed to attract your dog’s attention, keeping them occupied while you’re busy with other things. Our main complaint is the battery, which needs regular recharging. Yeah, it only takes an hour to charge…but it’s still another chore to add to your plate.

Pros

• Plays with your dog automatically
• Comes with an app
• Lots of smart features like auto-play mode

Cons

• Expensive
• Questionable durability
• Needs recharging

Features

• Price: $99.00
• Best For: Dogs that get bored easily
• Durability: 5/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Light
• Special Feature: Programmable toy attracts your dog’s attention

Interactive Dog Toy #7: iFetch Interactive Ball Launchers

The iFetch Interactive Ball Launcher operates on a genius idea: it’s an automatic ball-launcher to play fetch with your dog. Why didn’t we think of that?! Every dog loves fetch, which makes this a great (if costly) interactive dog toy. There’s also a mental component to it: your dog has to put the ball back in the top hole to launch it again.

The iFetch comes in two sizes. The more expensive version is bigger and launches 2.5” tennis balls, while the cheaper version is smaller and launches 1.5” balls.

 Pros

• Provides great physical exercise
• Also provides mental stimulation
• You can adjust the throwing distance (10, 20, 30 ft)

Cons

• Expensive
• Large model requires recharging

Features

• Price: $123.32 – $199.99
• Best For: All dogs
• Durability: 8/10
• Exercise Level Provided: High
• Special Feature:  Automatically shoots balls for your dog to fetch

Interactive Dog Toy #8: Furbo Dog Camera

The Furbo Dog Camera is a little different than many other toys on this list in that it doesn’t encourage much exercise. But it does give you a way to interact and “play” with your dog, even when you’re not home, using the smart toy’s app and/or an Amazon Alexa. You can record your dog while you’re away and even give them treats to reward them for staying off the couch while you’re gone.

Pros

• Lets you monitor your dog, when when you’re away
• Lets you feed your dog treats remotely
• Works via app and Amazon Alexa

Cons

• Expensive
• Doesn’t encourage much exercise
• Requires technical setup

Features

• Price: $185.00
• Best For: Owners who miss seeing their dog’s face
• Durability: 4/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Minimal
• Special Feature:  
• Allows you to monitor, record, and feed your dog treats

Interactive Dog Toy #9: Wobbler Treat Dispensing Toy

The Wobbler Treat Dispensing Toy is an interactive dog toy with a simple concept that’s executed well. Just fill it with food and watch as your dog knocks it around, trying to get the food out. It does a great job of keeping dogs occupied.

Pros

• Keeps your dog engaged for a long time with no supervision
• Prevents rapid eating

 Cons

• Some reviewers claim it can dispense too much food, too quickly

Features

• Price: $19.73
• Best For: Larger dogs (25 lbs and up)
• Durability: 7/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Light/Mental
• Special Feature: Wobbles and dispenses treats slowly over time

Interactive Dog Toy #10: Trixie Mad Scientist for Dogs

By now, you may have noticed a trend: many interactive dog toys rely on the slow release of treats to keep dogs engaged and entertained. The Trixie Mad Scientist for Dogs is no different. Trixie offers several toys like this that use little tubes to gradually release a little food at a time. It’s another easy way to keep your dog engaged and entertained with minimum effort.

Pros

• Provides mental stimulation
• Slows down feeding

Cons

• Not very durable
• Doesn’t provide much physical exercise

Features

• Price: $16.48
• Best For: Curious or intelligent dogs
• Durability: 2/10
• Exercise Level Provided: Light/Mental
• Special Feature: Forces dogs to turn the windmill to ear treats

What’s The Best Interactive Dog Toy For You?

Hopefully by now you have a better idea of which dog toy makes the most sense for your four-legged friend. Just remember that there’s no single best answer; there are many different toys your dog is liable to love. The best solution, at the end of the day, will probably involve a combination of several different types of toys to give your dog more variety and stimulation.

And of course, always keep in mind that interactive dog toys should never replace real interaction between you and your dog!

Looking for even more ways to exercise your dog? One of the most effective tools out there is a flirt pole. To find out about what flirt poles are and how to use them, check out our guide on how to build a flirt pole for your dog.