West Paw Toppl Treat-Dispensing Dog Toy (Small) Review

Think of the Toppl as the KONG's roomier, easier-going cousin. Where a KONG is a narrow cave you pack food into, the Toppl is an open cup with soft ridges around the rim — you can fill it with an entire meal in ten seconds, your dog can see and smell exactly what's in there, and cleaning it is a rinse instead of an archaeology dig. For raw and wet-food feeders it's a no-brainer; for kibble feeders, a splash of warm water and a night in the freezer turns dinner into a 20-minute lick session that genuinely settles an anxious or bored dog.

For a 10–12 lb dog, the Small is the right call: the opening suits a small muzzle, and the capacity is close to a full meal for a dog that size. Bigger dogs should take the Large — and here's the clever bit: the Small nests inside the Large to create a two-part puzzle that wobbles and resists, which is West Paw's built-in difficulty upgrade for dogs who've solved the basic version. The material deserves its own mention too. Zogoflex is soft enough to squish, tough enough that West Paw backs it with a one-time replace-or-refund guarantee, and it goes in the dishwasher without any 'top rack only' fine print.

Know what you're buying, though. The Toppl is an enrichment feeder, not a chew toy — a dog left alone with an empty one can gouge the soft rim, and it has none of the KONG's fetch appeal. It's also less challenging out of the box: that wide mouth means unfrozen kibble pours out with a nudge, so freezing is less optional here than with a KONG. If your budget only covers one food toy, the KONG Classic remains the versatile pick. If you can swing both, the Toppl handles mealtime enrichment and the KONG handles crate time, and that combination covers just about everything a small dog's brain needs.