Hello friends,
It’s started warming up over here and man am I starting to shed and lose dirt all over the kitchen. I can turn our kitchen into a desert overnight. It’s quite a feat really. But yesterday the weather turned a bit cooler again which I have thoroughly been enjoying. Now I just need to convince mom that I do NOT need to be brushed for the 100th time this week!
I wanted to take a few minutes this week to talk about safe dog toys. I hope that some of you will soon be getting something wonderful to hunt for from the Easter bunny — but he might need a bit of schooling when it comes to what us dogs really should be playing with.
For example, giving your dog old shoes or toys that look like shoes seems thrifty and smart — but if your dog knows that one shoe is safe to chew on, he or she may think that ALL shoes are safe. Now we’d need a bit more reach to say that those cute plastic hamburgers and hot dogs allow us to assume that a real burger or your steak is ours — but you can’t blame us for trying.
If your dog likes to chew, give them a big juicy bone (never give your dogs cooked bones as they may splinter and cause internal damage) or chew toys like rope bones. Rawhide bones are also fine to give your dog, but make sure it’s a thicker variety that your dog cannot destroy too quickly. if your dog consumes big chunks of rawhide, it can cause choking, bloat and other digestive issues.
In the past, I’ve always gotten tons of stuffies as presents. We’ve had inexpensive ones from IKEA, things I dug out of the trash like my giant dinosaur and toys made especially for dogs which are “guaranteed indestructible.” HA! Stuffed animals of all kinds are great for most dogs and we have a lot of fun not only throwing them around but also tearing them apart. I absolutely love to pull all the stuffing out of my animals. But I have been known to eat a bit of that stuffing (I have to clean it up somehow), parts of my stuffed animals and any squeaker that resides inside of them. I personally have not had any trouble passing any of these things — but it’s not something your dog needs to be eating. So when the stuffing is littering the floor like a snowstorm or you notice we finally have managed to free the squeaking box or other noise maker from our creatures, do us a favor and remove it before we get any bright ideas.
There are a lot of dog toys on the market made from rubber and plastic. They are really great for dogs who love to chew, especially the durable rubber ones like Kong toys, because they can give your dog hours of entertainment when you’re not around. There are even Kongs which you can fill with peanut butter or other treats when you need our attention to be redirected for a while. I personally have a rather extensive collection of rubber Kongs as well as rubber chickens dressed as angels, pirates and Santa Clause, a large Cuz and all sorts of other things. (These are affiliate links and I earn a tiny commission if you buy from Amazon via them.)
One of my favorite types of toys are still my balls. I have one raggedy old soccer ball that I found and carried home while out walking. And a myriad of other soccer balls that I’ve been given or had left in our gardens. In fact, my first yard came with about 3 soccer balls and I still have them all. But you should always be careful that the size of the ball you are giving your dog to play with corresponds to his size. I’m not allowed to play with golf balls and you should be very careful with tennis balls if your dog is able to chew through them. They can be a choking hazard. One of my personal favorites was an exercise ball I was given. I could suspend myself on it and it was truly the right sized ball for a Newf. But it unfortunately did not last long once I got my teeth into it.
At any rate, I hope this has given you a few good ideas about what you should be requesting from the Easter bunny. Oh, and remember, although chocolate might smell delicious, it’s not healthy for dogs. Get your humans to buy you some doggie chocolate or carob instead.
Slobbery kisses,
The Golden that we had when I was a kid would eat ANYTHING! One day we came out and she had pulled off and consumed all four foam pads (and their blue coverings) from our huge trampoline…which she passed over the next few days. Another time she enjoyed ripping up all of the landscaping fabric that had been put down the summer before. If we got her rubber balls (the $0.99 kind that they keep in big containers at the grocery store – or did when I was little) she would play with them until she popped them, and then she would eat them. Most of this happened overnight. She ate my brother’s wallet (which fell out of his pocket while he was playing with her and he didn’t realize it), including his credit cards and drivers license – those came out in pieces. The thing is, if dogs see it, they will eat it (or at least try), so you’re dead on about keeping an eye on them and giving them appropropriate toys. You can’t always catch them, but you can do your best! 🙂 Fun post, as always – I love the way you have taken these!
Our 16 week old black lab Kona has already found a knack in destroying all toys made “indestructible” for large dogs. We’ve also found kong toys and large bones and balls to be the safest. We have a problem with tennis balls but thought we beat the system when we found a big kong bone covered in tennis ball material…he removes all the dayglo green fur immediately we’ve discovered as if they needed a good shave before suitable to play with. Don’t even get me started on the kids toys versus dog toys war going on this house.
I too love my stuffies, I always have one I sleep with – until I empty it of it’s stuffing then it’s no fun anymore and I have to find a new favourite. Dad bought me a huge box of stuffies at a flea market last year for $1.00 so I’ve got a few to last me.
I’ve never been really fond of Kongs, they’re OK, but I bore of them quickly. The Kong frisbee was great when they brought it home – I loved loved loved frisbee when I came to live here and the Kong one was the only one to last more than an afternoon without breaking into sharp dangerous pieces. However, soon after I was playing in the old horse yards and found that the people who used to live here with a horse left behind an old Jolly ball. IT’S FABULOUS. Unlike soccer balls or beach balls I can’t deflate it because it’s not held in ball shape by air. It has a rope through it – makes it easier for folks to launch it. It’s the BEST Buddy toy yet. In fact they had to go out and buy me new ones when my found Jolly ball sunk in the ocean I was inconsolable for weeks waiting for it to come in the mail. So now we have a spare.
I’m not allowed to play Jolly ball in the house so they had to find me an indoor toy. Last year at a Beagle Paws flea market they found a hard rubbery ball – about the size of a large grapefruit, or a really big softball. The funny part is it has FEET so it does weird bouncy things down the hall. I don’t know what it’s been made of, but I haven’t been able to destroy it. We’re all amazed. It’s not as good as chasing my chewy Jolly ball across the horse yards, but it’s still a LOT of fun to chase up and down the stairs.
Love ya girl,
Buddy
hehh…
me and my Jolly ball..
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=101339099914200&set=a.101338633247580.609.100001143308609&type=1
“indestructible” toys should have a different label when it comes to newfies. I bought one made out of actual fire hose, and my newf ripped a corner off within minutes:). And our golden ate a 6ft leather leash (i think Golden’s are super fast chewer’s because they seem to have so much nervous energy). A golden i dogsat for ate 3 remote controls. Great post! Love that giant dinosaur!