"Pupsicle" Searches Are Up 3,750%. Vets Put 59% of U.S. Dogs Above Ideal Weight — Owners Put It at 17%.

"Pupsicle" is one of the fastest-rising pet searches on the internet right now — up 3,750% on Exploding Topics' October trend list [1]. The product is a silicone toy with a frozen treat pod inside; the wider category is food-dispensing enrichment toys, and it is having a moment.

October is also World Pet Obesity Month [2], which makes this a useful collision.

The number

In the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention's 2022 veterinary-assessed prevalence survey, 59% of dogs and 61% of cats were overweight or had obesity [3].

In APOP's 2023 owner opinion survey (n=527), 17% of dog owners said their dog was overweight. 84% described their dog's body condition as ideal or healthy [3].

Treat frequency from the same survey: 58% of dog owners gave treats more than once a day, 24% once a day, and 4% reported restricting treats [3].

Those two sets of figures come from different surveys with different methods, so they aren't a clean head-to-head. They do point the same direction.

The arithmetic of a tablespoon

WSAVA's treat guidance for dog owners puts treats at no more than 10% of daily calories, and includes a table of daily treat allowances by body weight: 14 kcal for a 2 kg dog, 24 kcal for a 4 kg dog, and 32 kcal for dogs from 6 kg up to 40 kg [4].

The same document lists peanut butter at 81 kcal per tablespoon [4].

So one level tablespoon of peanut butter is roughly three and a half times the entire daily treat allowance for a 4 kg (about 9 lb) dog, and about two and a half times it for a 20 kg Labrador. Common chews run higher still: a dried pig's ear at 242 kcal per two ounces, a tripe stick at 217 kcal per ounce, a rawhide bone at 700 kcal [4]. WSAVA notes that for some dogs, a single one of those items can exceed the whole day's treat budget [4].

This isn't an argument against the toy. It's an argument about what goes in it.

The toys do appear to do something

In a study at Utrecht University, 17 kennelled dogs were split into a toy group of eight and a control group of nine. The toy group got a hard rubber toy stuffed with peanut-butter-flavoured paste, biscuits and bread, twice a day for a week [5].

The toy-group dogs spent 31.8% of observed time interacting with the toy [5]. During the toy week they spent 25.9% of their time lying down against 44.2% for controls, with more moving, more standing, and more behavioural transitions [5].

Barking and stereotypies both trended lower in the toy group, but those differences were not statistically significant, and the activity effects did not persist once the toys were taken away [5]. It's a small study — 17 laboratory beagles and beagle crosses, one toy type, five days of access — and the authors say as much [5].

So: reasonable evidence that a stuffed toy keeps a dog occupied and moving, thinner evidence that it resolves barking or repetitive behaviour on its own.

Getting the enrichment without the calories

• Subtract, don't add. Whatever goes in the toy comes out of the bowl. The simplest version is to fill it with a measured portion of the dog's own dinner, soaked and frozen.
• Measure the filling once. A measuring spoon settles the question that a knife out of the jar doesn't.
• Check the nut butter label. Some peanut and nut butters contain xylitol, which can trigger a rapid, severe drop in a dog's blood sugar. Signs can begin within 10 to 60 minutes, and other serious effects may not show for 12 to 24 hours [6]. FDA's advice is to read the label before using nut butter as a treat or to hide a pill [6].
• Use lower-calorie fillers. Plain canned pumpkin without a spice blend, a portion of the dog's wet food, mashed green beans, or plain water frozen with a few pieces of kibble suspended in it.
• Size it and supervise it. WSAVA's general advice on chews and treats is to choose an appropriate size and shape and to supervise, to reduce choking risk [4].

A frozen toy is a good way to buy twenty quiet minutes, and the evidence suggests the dog is genuinely better occupied for them. It's worth knowing that the twenty minutes has a calorie price, and that it's one you get to set.

Sources

1. Exploding Topics. "Top Trending Topics (Oct 2026)." https://explodingtopics.com/blog/trending-topics
2. Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. "Press Releases." https://www.petobesityprevention.org/press-releases
3. Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. "2023 Pet Obesity Survey Results." https://www.petobesityprevention.org/2023
4. WSAVA Global Nutrition Committee. "Feeding treats to your dog." https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/WSAVA_GuidetoTreats_Dogs_251107.pdf
5. Schipper LL, Vinke CM, Schilder MBH, Spruijt BM. "The effect of feeding enrichment toys on the behaviour of kennelled dogs (Canis familiaris)." Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2008;114:182–195. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159108000038
6. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Paws Off Xylitol! It's Dangerous for Dogs." https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/paws-xylitol-its-dangerous-dogs