Pet Supplies Plus marks 50 years of KONG with August events
Bottom line
Pet Supplies Plus is marking the 50th anniversary of KONG dog toys with August promotions and community events across its store network, according to Pet Age’s report and KONG’s own anniversary messaging. KONG says it has been making its signature rubber toys since 1976, and frames the brand around durable, American-made rubber toys and the “power of play.” Pet Supplies Plus, which now says it operates more than 725 locally owned and corporate stores nationwide, is tying the campaign to in-store engagement and support for local animal shelters. (kongcompany.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the retail promotion lands in a category that overlaps directly with preventive behavior care. AAHA’s current client-facing enrichment guidance specifically points to stuffed KONG-style toys as a form of cognitive and food enrichment that can reduce boredom, stress, and destructive behavior, while a Veterinary Record study found dogs took nearly 20 times longer to eat food from a KONG toy than from a bowl. That gives clinics a timely opening to reinforce practical, low-cost enrichment advice with pet parents, especially for dogs with boredom-related behaviors, fast eating, or a need for calmer at-home activity. (aaha.org)
What to watch: Watch for whether Pet Supplies Plus turns the anniversary into a broader shelter, adoption, or education campaign, an approach the retailer and KONG have used together before. (prnewswire.com)
Pet Supplies Plus retailers are celebrating 50 years of KONG dog toys with month-long August promotions and community events, extending a consumer-facing milestone into local-store programming and shelter support. The timing aligns with KONG’s own 50-year branding: the company says it has been making its signature toys since 1976 and continues to position them as durable, American-made products built around play, safety, and enrichment. (kongcompany.com)
The anniversary also fits a longer relationship between the two brands. In a 2018 announcement, Pet Supplies Plus and KONG partnered with Merrick to support K9s For Warriors, with KONG donating 10,000 toys and Pet Supplies Plus contributing funding. That earlier collaboration emphasized enrichment, bonding, and behavior support for working and shelter-derived dogs, themes that reappear in the current anniversary campaign’s focus on play and local shelter engagement. (prnewswire.com)
On the retail side, Pet Supplies Plus has the footprint to give the promotion national visibility. The company said in March 2026 that it serves communities through more than 725 locally owned and corporate stores nationwide, while its franchising materials describe the chain as 700-plus locations strong. That scale matters because it turns what could be a simple anniversary promotion into a distributed consumer education effort, potentially reaching a large number of pet parents through neighborhood stores rather than specialty behavior channels alone. (prnewswire.com)
The veterinary relevance comes from how closely the campaign’s messaging tracks current enrichment guidance. AAHA’s 2026 resource on home enrichment says puzzle and treat-dispensing toys, including stuffed KONG toys, can support cognitive and food enrichment, help reduce boredom-driven behaviors, slow fast eating, and provide calm, focused activity. Separately, research published in Veterinary Record reported that, in a small feeding-time comparison, dogs took almost 20 times longer to consume food from a KONG toy than from a bowl. Taken together, those sources support the underlying claim that enrichment toys can do more than entertain: they can change how dogs eat, engage, and cope at home. (aaha.org)
KONG’s own history reinforces why the product still carries weight in clinical conversations about behavior and wellbeing. The company traces the toy’s origin to a German Shepherd named Fritz and says the product line evolved from a durable chew into a stuffed puzzle toy associated with mental stimulation and the reduction of unwanted behaviors caused by boredom. That is, of course, brand storytelling, but it lines up with the way many veterinarians, trainers, and shelters now use food-stuffed toys in behavior management plans. (kongcompany.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary teams, this kind of retail campaign can be more than background industry news. It creates a timely moment to connect consumer interest in a familiar product with evidence-based conversations about enrichment, weight management strategies that slow intake, discharge instructions for post-procedure activity restriction, and behavior support for dogs prone to boredom, frustration, or destructive chewing. The bigger opportunity may be educational: when pet parents are already seeing KONG displays and promotions in stores, clinics can offer more specific guidance on appropriate toy selection, safe stuffing options, calorie awareness, sanitation, and when enrichment should complement, rather than replace, a broader behavior plan. (aaha.org)
There is also a shelter and community angle worth noting. Pet Supplies Plus has a track record of linking brand partnerships to rescue and adoption efforts, and the current anniversary campaign reportedly includes support for local animal shelters. For practices that work closely with rescues or newly adopted dogs, that matters because enrichment tools are often among the first recommendations for easing transition stress and building predictable routines in the home. (prnewswire.com)
What to watch: The next question is whether the 50-year celebration remains a month-long retail promotion or expands into a more formal education, shelter-donation, or adoption-support initiative through the rest of 2026; given both companies’ prior partnership activity and Pet Supplies Plus’s national scale, that would be a logical next step. (prnewswire.com)