A dog who empties a bowl in forty seconds is usually less greedy than under-occupied. Spreading that same food across a puzzle turns a swallow into a quarter of an hour of nosing and pawing, and most owners notice the difference in the hour afterwards more than during it, because a dog who has had to think tends to settle rather than pace the kitchen looking for the next thing.

The board is a flat tray with 16 treat holes hidden beneath sliding bone and paw-shaped blocks, and 11 movable pieces in total, so you can vary the difficulty by how much you cover and where you hide it. At 25.5cm square and only 3cm deep it sits flat and does not tip when a determined nose shoves at one corner, which is the failure that most cheap puzzle boards share.

• 16 treat holes
• 11 movable pieces
• Bone and paw-shaped sliding blocks
• 25.5 x 25.5cm, 3cm deep
• Works with treats or a portion of dry food
• Flat profile that stays stable on the floor

Two things worth knowing. Puzzle feeders are not chew toys. A dog who solves the board by picking it up and biting it needs supervising, and any board will eventually lose pieces to a determined chewer. And the first session usually needs you sitting alongside, showing them how a block moves, or the dog gives up and wanders off.

Who it's for: Fast eaters, bored dogs, and anyone whose evening would be easier if dinner took longer than a minute to disappear.