So you have a new dog, and you’re wondering what is the best dog toy to get them. Dog toys are vital to your dogs well being and mental health. When we’re away from our dogs, running errands or going to work, to some extent all dogs suffer separation anxiety. While we can’t be with our dogs all the time, we can help them cope with our absence. When dogs get bored they get anxious which can manifest into destructive behaviors. An excellent way to help your dog cope with anxiety is to keep their mind and body active. Dog toys help to control bad behaviors by keeping your dog occupied and actively engaged. You’ll want to get dog toys that provide an outlet for your dogs energy, keep them occupied when you’re not available to play with or not at home and will help them to socialize and understand their social behavior.
Dog toys are designed to relieve boredom and to keep your dog from engaging in undesirable behaviors when you’re not at home. When a dog chews on a durable dog toy or a fleece dog toy, they’re not chewing on your furniture or your new $200 BCBG shoes. Dog toys are outlets for pent-up energy and allows you to reward your dog with something other than food. Time spent with you playing with your dog and their dog toys are the best reward a dog could ever have. Just be sure to purchase dog toys specifically made for dogs and not for children. Dogs will chew their toys and may swallow small chunks of them during play. Make sure that all materials the dog toy is made of are safe for your dog to ingest. But don’t allow your dogs to eat their toys! It’s not a habit you want to encourage. Make sure your children keep their stuffed animals away from your dog, as many of these toys aren’t safe for dogs.
First, figure out what you’d like to accomplish by getting your dog a toy… Do you want to cure boredom? Stop a nervous behavior? Eliminate a bad habit? Give your dog exercise and keep them healthy? Reinforce a positive activity? Socialize your dog? Second… Understand your dogs breed. Do you have an Australian Shepard that was breed to herd livestock or a Springer Spaniel that was breed to hunt. Different breeds have different innate behaviors that need to be fulfilled. Spaniels love to hunt and catch, and they also need quite a bit of exercise, so playing fetch with them is essential. Shepherds need indestructible toys as they have powerful jaws and are frequent nippers. They like large balls they can chase and ‘herd’ and throwing discs they can fetch. These dogs are very active and need quite a bit of exercise daily. Now that you’ve gathered this information, you can start making intelligent choices for dog toys for you and your dog.
A dog can never have too many toys! If they seem disinterested in one, simply hide it for a while and being it back later. Viola’, now it’s a ‘new’ toy. Variety is the Spice of Life for humans and for dogs! So even though you may have a herding dog, make sure to give them a well rounded assortment of toys, not just herding toys give them a challenge toy and a shaking toy also. Having an assortment of dog toys makes for a happier, well rounded dog. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all of the dog toy choices out on the market. Hopefully after you read this and the reviews on the site this task will be a lot easier.
Playing Styles
Challenge Loving Dog — This is the dog that walks around looking for something to do. It may sit by you, looking deep into your eyes begging for something exciting to happen. This is also the dog that when not challenged…will find its own activity…like unrolling the toilet tissue, or rearranging the furniture by chasing the cat. Recommendations — This dog needs toys that do something! Their toys must come apart, make unusual noises, move, or make them think! Dog Puzzle Toys and Treat Dispensers are great for these Challenge Loving Dogs. This dog really needs dog toys for smart dogs like Nina Ottosson’s Dog Puzzles; these interactive dog toys get you involved as well as your dog.
Destroy Loving Dog -- Give this dog a toy and it will destroy it in 30 seconds or less. If a toy lasts more than 30 minutes, you have a party. You might have even tried giving this dog a bowling ball…only to find it in shreds. Recommendations — There are tough dog toys for this dog besides a Black Kong! Observe, observe, & observe — find out what is driving this metal-jaw-dog-toy-demolisher to destroy its toys. Then choose dog toys for chewers without that trigger. When you purchase toys for this dog, get a wide variety of brands, textures, and sizes. Keep the tags of the indestructible toys. Soon you will find the clues to toys that will last for your dog. Consider letting your dog play with the toy carcass, if your dog does not consume its toys. The carcass just might be your dog’s favorite toy. See Stuffing Loving, to find out what a carcass is.
Stuffing-aholic Dog — This dog thinks that every bit of stuffing, in a toy, needs to come out…and the sooner the better. No stuffing is safe even if it is locked up in Fort Knox…it has to come out immediately. Recommendations — This dog needs toys without stuffing, bet you already knew that! You can also try toys with non-polyester stuffing, like Simply Fido’s Organic Cotton Dog Toys, some dogs just love polyester stuffing. If all else fails, you can pre-unstuff their dog toys. You can let your dog play with the carcass, as long as it is safe for your dog’s Playing Style. The carcass is the outside of a de-stuffed dog toy.
Shake Loving Dog — This dog will shake every toy you give it…no matter how small or large they will shake it. This dog loves toys that have long parts that will hit it in the head as it shakes the toy. Yes, this dog loves to have stuff hit it in the head. Recommendations — This dog needs floppy toys the floppier the better. If the floppy ends have a little weight — they will love their new toy. This dog has to have at least one Romp n’ Roll Jolly Ball. Warning! DO not allow this dog to have toys, with heavy objects on the end, in the house.
Tug Loving Dog — This dog just loves to tug…your shoes, your clothes, your rug, your sprinkler system, it doesn’t care it just wants to tug. Recommendations — This dog needs toys that are re-enforced for tugging. Dog Ropes are a great selection for Tug Loving Dogs. Are you tired of playing tug? Puppy Pulls hang from trees or rafters, then your dog can play tug all by its self.
Food Loving Dog — Surprise, not all dogs are food-loving dogs! Food Loving Dogs will smell a treat in your pocket from the other side of the house. They will not stop until they have the treat and every morsel from your pocket. Recommendations — This dog needs dog food puzzles. I recommend a variety of dog treat toys to keep them busy. The original treat dispensing toys were the Buster Cube and the Kong. Now there are all shapes and sizes of treat dispensers. There are even kibble pet food dispensers that are big enough to dispense a dog’s entire meal.
Ball Loving Dog — This dog is easy to spot…it has a ball in its mouth. Everywhere you go, it will find a ball. I know of one Ball Loving Dog that tore through a big stack of packed moving boxes to find a tennis ball. Recommendations — This dog needs balls and the more the better. Make sure that the balls are big enough for them to catch, but not so small, that they will slide down their throat. If this dog carries a ball around all of the time, make sure the ball’s covering will not wear down their teeth, like tennis balls do.
Fetch Loving Dog -- When you look at this dog, it thinks that you might want to play fetch. If your arm flops over the bed at night, this dog will put a toy in it. Recommendations — This dog needs fetching toys. Wait; actually, any toy can be a fetching toy. Make sure you have safe inside fetching toys so if they hit Aunt Matilda’s cremation urn…they will not break it.
Herding Loving -- This dog herds anything and everything. Have guests? They all have to stay in their assigned places. Have cats? This dog will herd them until they comply. When going on a walk, the walker of this dog will frequently have their arm in the air (trying to keep the leash untangled) while their dog runs around them in circles. Recommendations — Balls, this dog needs lots of big dog balls. We recommend three big balls…put water in one or two of the balls so that they move erratically and do not cooperate — let the herding begin.
Quiet Loving Dog — This dog jumps when their toys make sounds and then they avoid them. Quiet Loving Dogs can also be a result of a Quiet Loving Human that is tired of trying to watch television over the squeak, giggle, caw, grunt, and rattle of dog toys. Recommendations — This is an easy problem to solve. This dog needs quiet toys or toys with removable sound makers. You can silence a squeaker by pulling off the end. If you are talented, you can do this without ever removing the squeaker from the toy. Dr. Noys’ Toys have removable and replaceable squeakers. Some toys do not have noise-makers.
Sound Loving Dog -- The minute this dog gets a toy, he starts biting it everywhere to find what noises it makes. If the toy does not make noise, he is sure that it is broken. Sound Loving Dogs frequently take noisy toys to bed with them at night…just in case it is too quiet. These dogs have been known to bite several squeaky toys for dogs at once so they make squeak harmony. Recommendations — This dog needs sound, the louder the better. We recommend that this dog’s toys have multiple noisemakers so when one wears out they have another one. Give this dog a variety of sounds so that you do not have to listen to the same sound over and over again. This dog will love Babble Balls, they babble every time they move. That is a lot of noisy dog toy sound.