Category: Animal House
Hey all. I need some suggestions for toys for my dog. After some failed attempts with a few toys, I realized her favorite thing to do with a toy is to chew it, and she's chewed through what seemed like some pretty tough rubber. We're talking some aggressive chewing here. The kong would be great except she isn't interested in it unless I stick a treat in there. I've also tried the kong bone, but she doesn't like that either. Right now she has a nylabone and another bone that's some sort of dental bone. I'd like to get her something else that isn't a bone. Any help would be appreciated. She loves anything ball-shaped, but if you have a suggestion that doesn't fit that, please go ahead and toss it out here.
Hi SoaringOnMusic,
We have this same problem with our dog Jade.
the best toys for a chuer are like you sed hevvy rubber. I don't no what there tecnicaly called but there are some great toys that are a rubber ball with a rubber rope on it. The have squekers inthem so make a good bit of noize when they get going but stand up well to chueing. Also my dog has a rubber shue that is really really thick rubber, I meen this thing has wate to it and it's servived for about 2 and a half years, so that is a idea.
Your best bet would be to go to the petstore and actuley feal the toys to make sure there nice and strong. You will most likely pay a bit more for them but remember you are makeing the investment that you wont have to be back there in 2 days.
Or you could go online to
www.petsmart.com
or
www.petco.com
Or do a google sirch for toys for tuff chuers.
I have found that the petco toys stand up better.
You also might look into y she's chueing so much, is she bord and does she have enough things to do? Sometimes dogs chue everything in sight when there upset or bord. I no from expearience, our coffee table will never be the same again. smile
Sorry for the lingth of this post. I hope it helped
Good luck!
Tracey
My dog is a serious chewer and I found this one quite hard at first. There is a great ball out there, for a start. It's called the indistructaball, how apt, and it comes in all different sizes. Any large pet care stores seem to have them. Also, if your dog's not interested in the standard nylabones, you can get different flavoured ones, bacon, chicken and chocolate, to name a few. That generally tends to perk up their interest. My dog also has a blanket that she carries around in her mouth. I felt bad not giving her something soft, and she seems to have adopted that as the soft thing she won't chew. If you're going to do something like that, you really need something well sewn so that the courners are rounded, makes them less of and interest point. Ultimately though, if your dog is a chewer, you need to accept that if you buy her something like a blanket, and she does do it, that's coz she sees it as her toy, so if you can help it, I'd say try and spend as little on it as possible. Also, you can get liver paste and stuff like that which you put inside the king and I believe you can get low cal ones too. The smell lasts for ages though so you really shouldn't need too much at all. Alternatively, try asking at your vet. I know that the vet was really helpful for me.
i used to call my pup evil because she's chewed up just about everything she can get her mouth on. i won't sit here and think about all the cell chargers and things i've had to replace because of my not taping things to the ceiling and her finding ways to get to everything.
water or pop bottles make great home made chew toys. just flatten them when empty and screw the lid back on very tight. you can also make sock toys from old socks. get a long tube sock and stuff it as full as you possibly can and tie it off. my dog is a serious chewer and these hold up for a while if stuffed well. also my nephew bought her a cheap little annoying squeaky toy from walmart for a buck and as much as i wish she would chew through that thing already, a month later of everyday chewing it's still going strong.
if your dog is chewing things it is not supposed to there is this stuff called bitter apple that you can spray on the stuff that is not supposed to be chewed on. i wish i would have gotten this from the start and not waited until honey had chewed so many things she shouldn't have.
i also agree that you need to find out why your dog is chewing. mine is teething but also it is because she gets bored at times. the teething is finally going away and my apartment is finally becoming safe again as long as i make sure she gets enough attention and playtime throughout the day.
Thanks. I might look into that indistructiball or the rubber shoe. I definitely want to look at them before I buy it. I admit I'm a bit wary of spending money on one until I think there's a reasonable chance it will stand up to her chewing. Luckily, I don't have trouble with her chewing other things although anything that finds its way to the floor may end up in her mouth. It's just that chewing is her preferred method of playing with toys. She's a 2 year old lab with a lot of energy.
As children, we play with our hands, and as pupies, dogs play with their mouths and teeth.
I've heard of the following recommended for dedicated chewers:
"Invinsible Rings",
Orbee balls,
Hurley toys,
Cuz toys,
Budda toys,
You'll have to do a google search to find retailers, as I'm not sure how common these products are in standard pet stores.
The old sock toys are a great idea, we've done that around here, (either stuffing one sock with other socks/rags/etc., or tying a bunch of socks into a tug toy both made for a pretty durable toy).
Besides that, you'll have to keep the easily-destroyed toys for interactive play only.
I've also had a lot of success with Bully Sticks, they're not so much a toy, but they'll keep chewers occupied for awhile.