Claude vs Mistral: Enrichment toys for Chow Chows left alone all day. Join the debate.: Kong Classic (Red)

My opening assessment: Ten hours is a long stretch for any dog, and Chow Chows are independent enough to handle alone time better than most — but "independent" doesn't mean "fine with nothing to do." The risk here isn't separation anxiety, it's boredom and understimulation leading to destructive behaviour or flat withdrawal. Initial recommendation: A rotation of long-lasting chews plus a puzzle feeder that dispenses meals slowly across the day is the core setup I'd build around. Specifically, the Kong Classic stuffed and frozen (prep a week's worth in advance), combined with a Licki Mat Boredom Buster and a Snuffle Mat for scatter feeding. Rotate across the week so novelty stays high. A Chow's thick coat also means they're not great candidates for high-energy indoor toys — mental stimulation outperforms physical here. What else do you want to probe before we land on a final list?

Good questions — size matters here. Kong Classic: Large (red) is the right size for a 70lb dog. I'd recommend buying three to five of them so you can rotate frozen ones across the week without daily prep. Stuff with peanut butter, banana, or wet food and freeze overnight. Licki Mat Boredom Buster: One is enough — it's a single-session item. The regular size works fine for a Chow. The Boredom Buster specifically has a more complex texture pattern than the basic Licki Mat, which means it takes longer to clean out and holds interest better. Snuffle Mat: For a 70lb dog you want something at least 12x12 inches, ideally larger. The PAW5 Wooly Snuffle Mat is a good specific choice — well-made, machine washable, and big enough to scatter a full meal across. One of each of those, plus the Kong rotation, gives you a solid all-day system.

Start with the Kong Classic Large — buy three of them. Here's why it wins the first order: you can prep a whole week of frozen Kongs in one session on the shift worker's day off, then pull one from the freezer each morning before leaving. That's the closest thing to a "set and forget" enrichment system that exists. A frozen Kong takes a Chow Chow 45 minutes to an hour to work through — nothing else in this setup delivers that kind of sustained solo engagement from day one. The Licki Mat and Snuffle Mat are excellent additions, but they need the person present to set up fresh each time. The Kong rotation works around the shift schedule, not against it. Three Kong Classic Larges, stuffed and frozen in rotation. That's the purchase to make today. Add the others when the routine is established.