Dogs that hang around the house all day can get depressed. If they aren’t getting enough mental and physical activity, they become bored and need something to cheer them up. One effective tool to help your dog can be food puzzles.

Food puzzles are dog toys that force dogs to work for their food. Instead of pouring food in a bowl and having the dog chow it down within minutes, the puzzles keep dogs occupied for hours. This can help with dogs that are bored or depressed due to lack of mental and physical stimulation.

In the wild, dogs spend hours hunting food. This is dramatically different from the simple lives pets have now where they don’t have to work for their food. The puzzles can help with that by forcing the dogs to figure out how to obtain food inside the toy.

Not all dogs are a good match for the puzzles. If your dog is skinny, sick, or is having trouble eating already, this might not be the right toy. Puzzles are for dogs who are energetic and need something to do during that day.

If your dog is tearing up the house while you’re gone, this might be the product for you. Your dog is probably messing up the house because it has more energy than it knows what to do with. A puzzle will expend that energy while you’re at work, leaving your house in the same shape you left it (hopefully).

If your dog seems depressed, and the dog toy isn’t doing the trick, it’s possible that something more serious is wrong. Sometimes, dogs that are in pain act depressed, so if you can’t seem to cheer up your pooch, it might be time for a vet visit.