We've been in pandemic mode for just over two years now, and many of the lucky folks who've been able to work from home up to this point will probably keep doing that for the foreseeable future.

If you're one of those remote workers who happen to also own a dog (or maybe you adopted one to keep you company), you've probably experienced a lot of ups and downs as a pet parent with a WFH gig. Cuddles while you're checking emails are great! Whines for attention while you're trying to get a word in during a Zoom call, not so much. It's a process. And if you're living in an apartment without an outside space for your dog to run around in, this can create even more of a challenge.

Whether you're raising a puppy or a canine companion that's a little longer in the tooth, you'd absolutely benefit from having a few dog puzzles at the ready while you tackle the daily duties of your job.

Sometimes referred to as enrichment toys, dog puzzles are pretty much what they sound like: Puzzles for dogs. Not all dog puzzles are made the same, though. There are many different kinds that employ diverse mechanics, have different goals, teach unique lessons, and feature difficulty levels that run the gamut of cognitive ability. But more often than not, you can bet that most dog puzzles will act as a fun little brain teaser that holds a reward for your pet once they solve it.

Dog puzzles have a lot of uses, but the two biggest ones are distraction and mental stimulation. Instead of giving your dog a simple chew toy to keep them busy while you work, you can present them with a dog puzzle to keep them occupied much longer without having to divert their attention over and over. (We know, we hate turning our dogs' playtime offers down, too, but sometimes you have to focus.)

But aside from keeping your dog entranced while you handle business, dog puzzles can offer other benefits for your pup (and consequently, you). Dog puzzles provide more mental stimulation in comparison to the run-of-the-mill toys that many of us have at our disposal, because they actually require your dog to solve a problem to get to what they want. They'll find success by doing things that dogs instinctually love doing: Sniffing, burrowing, licking, chewing, etcetera.

Not only do they get rewarded for their work, but they also get the serotonin boost that comes with fulfilling their life's purpose. Some claim that enrichment toys like dog puzzles can also help remedy behavioral issues, although that's still up for debate.

The good thing about dog puzzles is that it's pretty hard to make a catastrophic choice when buying one. All dogs love new toys, and chances are they'll probably be down to test out whatever you put in front of them. The one thing we'd advise against, though, is starting your pup off on a puzzle that's too difficult — it can be discouraging, and may end in your dog staring up at you with beady eyes that say "why can't I do this?" Devastating.

If you want to find the perfect one on the first try, there are a few things to consider that can make your decision easier:

Temperament: What is your dog's personality like? What are their tendencies? Are they curious? Impatient? The former will pair better with a puzzle that takes more time to figure out, while the latter calls for simpler mechanics that yield faster rewards. You know your dog best.

Age: Depending on your dog's age, they'll be at different cognitive ability levels from others, which will help inform your decision on which difficulty level to begin with. Puppies should obviously start with the most beginner-friendly puzzles, but older, more experienced dogs might be able to get away with skipping right to the intermediate level.

Puzzle rewards: Dog puzzles usually employ one of two rewards: a toy, or a treat. If your dog is mainly motivated by treats, go with a puzzle that dispenses an edible reward. If you worry about over-feeding your dog, maybe get one that uses a squeaky toy as a prize. Better yet, get one of each.

To find the best of the best in dog puzzles, I recruited the help of my dog, Stevie, to help me test a few of them out. I chose two puzzles apiece from three difficulty levels — beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Each day, I gave Stevie a new puzzle and allowed her to take all the time she needed to solve it, taking special care to look at things like build quality, if the puzzle worked in practice, how long it took her to get to the prize, and how intuitive it was for her to figure out the mechanics of each brain teaser (I based this on how much help I needed to give her to get to a solution).

Stevie is a four-year-old boxer-pitbull, medium in size, and even-tempered. She's naturally very curious, excitable, listens well, and is heavily motivated by treats. She can be a bit lazy, though, and will quickly lose interest in something if she isn't getting enjoyment out of it. She is also very cute (this is irrelevant to the testing of the puzzles but I just wanted to say it).

And with that, we're ready to get into our picks. Below, the best dog puzzles we tried.

The PetZone IQ Treat Ball is different from all the other puzzles on this list in that it's an active brain teaser. Instead of being stationary while finding a solution, the PetZone IQ ball will roll around as your dog tries to get the treats inside to fall out, giving them a workout for their brain and their body at the same time.

What I really like about this puzzle is its simplicity and compactness. It's really easy to refill with treats when they're all gone, and I was even able to adjust the difficulty by moving the included plates around inside the ball. Stevie was a big fan of this one, as it's probably the one she was able to solve the quickest. At first, she tried to hold the ball with her paws and bite through (the plastic even started to scratch, which wasn't great), but she quickly learned that by pushing the ball around with her nose, she was able to get ahold of the goods. The PetZone IQ ball worked very well, but I would warn against picking one up unless you have a larger space to work with. My apartment is pretty small, so the ball ended up rolling under my furniture pretty often and required me to fish it out. But, if you've got the floor plan for it, this dog puzzle is a good get.

Stevie absolutely inhales her food when she's hungry. It's honestly a wonder how she does it (and also a little concerning). That's why I thought the Outward Hound Wobble Bowl would be a good dog puzzle to test out — because it doubles as a slow feeder.

And in practice, it does the slow feeding thing very well. All you need to do is remove the plug at the top, dump in your kibble or treat of choice, and close it back up. When your dog knocks up against the bowl or taps the top of it, it will wobble and dispense the contents. It may sound too easy, but my skittish dog had a bit of a tough time figuring this one out at first. The wobbling of the bowl initially scared her a bit, and it took me showing her the ropes multiple times for her to get the gist and do it on her own. If your dog is on the more anxious side, this puzzle may freak them out, so use your best judgment there.

But once Stevie got the Wobble Bowl working, she seemed to thoroughly enjoy the way it spilled her favorite salmon-flavored dog food all over the place (yeah, it can get kind of messy). I also thoroughly enjoyed watching her tap her paws on the top, jump away, and then come back in to lick her rewards off the floor.

One thing that Stevie loves just as much as treats: squeaky toys. She goes totally wild for them, and that's a huge reason why the Outward Hound Hide-a-Squirrel puzzle was such a winner for her.

This is the one "soft" toy we tested out, and I really liked that I didn't have to worry about my dog accidentally ingesting plastic. The puzzle is basically a log with holes in it that you stuff with squeaky squirrel toys, and your dog is supposed to burrow into it to get the toys out. Stevie figured this one out very quickly, but I could see how it could occupy other dogs for longer, especially smaller ones. She loved this one so much that every time she completed it, she would bring me each squirrel toy to signal that she wanted me to set up the puzzle again (which was thankfully very simple to do). The only downsides to this toy were that it can get dirty really quickly and hold onto dried dog slobber, and some of the squirrel toys shed some fur. Other than that, this was a fantastic pick.

This is the puzzle that my dog had the most trouble with. The Trixie Mad Scientist is simple in design — it's three beaker tubes connected by a spinning bar that will dispense treats when it's flipped upside down. Although it wasn't a good fit for Stevie, I still think the quality of the toy is mostly good, and will work better for high-energy dogs that have a lot of patience. Stevie just wasn't able to get the beakers to flip, and when she finally did, they would flip back over before anything could fall out.

I did like how it came with two different toppers for each beaker, one with multiple small holes throughout and another with one large hole in the middle. This was nice to have because I was able to make the difficulty a little bit easier, and it also ensured that there was a size big enough to fit my dog's specific treats. The only other knock I have for this one is that the plastic construction looked and felt pretty cheap, but I didn't have any issues with pieces falling off or fraying.

The Outward Hound Hide N' Slide puzzle was easily the best puzzle that Stevie and I tested for this list. For starters the puzzle itself is built extremely well — it's sturdy, and all the moving pieces slide around effortlessly as promised. Also, I love the look, and it's easy to keep clean with a quick wipe-down.

This one is more of a straight-up puzzle without the gimmicks of some of our other picks. All you do is hide the treats within the board's compartments, or put them inside the sliders for higher difficulty. Through licking and nose-pushing, your dog will be able to slide each piece around and open each compartment to reveal their reward. Stevie didn't get this one right away, but after working at it for a while, she became a pro, which is the level of challenge I prefer in a dog puzzle. One frustrating thing that happened a few times was the swinging compartment doors getting in the way of another one, but those instances were few and far between. All in all, this is one of the best classic dog puzzles you can get right now.

The Outward Hound Brick game, like the Hide N' Slide, is another classic-style dog puzzle that'll act as an advanced-level brain teaser for your pup. Same as the last puzzle, you'll have to hide treats within the board's hidden compartments and let your dog find their way to them. This puzzle is better fit for dogs who lick a lot, as most of the moving parts will require your dog to use their tongue to get to the prize.

I really enjoyed this puzzle, too, but it comes in a close second to the Hide N' Slide for two reasons. One, my dog doesn't really lick that much, and two, I thought the interspersed bones pieces were a little too difficult to dig out from the board, even with my help. Besides that, the drawer-style compartments moved around really easily, and it was a blast watching Stevie figure out how to open them up. It's also built very well, and was easy to clean between play sessions. Even though it didn't end up being my number one, it may be yours depending on your dog's licking tendencies.