Dog Toy Reviews - Good buys!

So, on this page I want to share some purchases that were a waste of money and others that were a great choice. Toys for your dog are especially important in the first two years of their life. Dogs chew!!!! and unless you have the money to blow on new household items, clothing and shoes it's better to spend $10. to $30. on good dog toys.
First off here's a training tip!

DON'T let your puppy play with ANYTHING that you don't want destroyed or that looks like an item you don't want destroyed. For instance... if you have children who have stuffed toys don't buy your dog stuffed toys. Your puppy will not be able to understand that his teddy is O.K. to mangle but your son's prized Gund teddy - from Grandma last Christmas - that he sleeps with every night - and won't go to bed without - is off limits. Don't let your dog have old shoes or socks to play with either because I will guarantee you will have just taught and encouraged a shoe fetish that will have you replacing your nice expensive leather shoes, or those of your guests, who come to visit. Not to mention your poor confused dog who's punished for eating one shoe but not another.


We have a Golden Retriever/Black lab mix, Hope, who's two year old. She was a voracious chewer as a puppy but for whatever reason she caught on quickly to what were her toys and what weren't. O.K... she would try for the kids stuffed toys too but we would take them away and give her an acceptable substitute and so she learned quickly to leave stuff alone! (She is a brilliant dog so learning came easy for her). Through her chewing history we have discovered toy choices that were not wise and others choices that could stand the test of time and teeth. I will share those findings here with you.


Gracie, on the other hand, is a different story... 
Because Gracie has had no social skills and absolutely no training she does not know what is acceptable to 'destroy'. She is approximately 10 months old. (read her story on the page marked "Gracie"). All things considered she is very intelligent and is learning how to co-exist with people, other dogs and cats. She has discovered a penchant for paper of all things! She will lay under the desk in the office, and slide a sheet of paper out of the pile laying there and proceed to shred it. She will also grab the phone book, dictionary, Bible... whatever is there and chew it all up. I used to think it was a joke that "the dog ate my homework". Believe me, it's no joke! So I am taking away what she shouldn't have and replacing it with things she can have. Below are toys she is learning to play with and hasn't destroyed!

Hope and Gracie tug with a Kong Extreme Flyer (Frisbee)

The Kong Extreme Flyer is an excellent buy!  Don't leave it with your dog to chew on  though. After the games are done take it away and save it for the next play time. Our two dogs loved this one. It is soft and pliable rubber and your dog can easily catch it in his mouth without hurting gums or teeth and it is somewhat stretchy. They can pick it up off the ground easily too where as a regular plastic frisbee is almost impossible for them to pick up if it's right side up. It only comes in black. It flies well but not as well as a more sturdy frisbee. This one finally succumbed after a lot of tugging between these two girls. We live in central Manitoba where this winter it got down to -30/-40 Celsius so that could have contributed to the demise of this frisbee. I will definitely buy one again though. The dogs had a blast going after this one in the deep snow!

After the black flyer got torn I bought the red Kong Flyer and this one is very durable! They haven't wrecked it yet, it can take the colder temperatures. It flies better but it isn't as soft and pliable. It, too, is made of rubber and is a bit heavier than a plastic frisbee but we've had hours of fun outside. And being red, it stands out in the snow, bush and grass well so if they lose track of it it's easier for you too find :-)
If your dog likes to retrieve you gotta get one of these!







A new toy discovery was this Busy Buddy Bristle Bone! Hope has chewed the ends continually so now they're all stubbly and rough. The bone twists apart so that you can insert rawhide-like disks between the bristles and the purple rubber teether which provides a flavourful motivation to keep her interested in the toy. The edible disks are replaceable and can be bought in separate packs. I bought one package of replacement disks when I bought the bone. Hope enjoyed this toy so much I will have to buy another bone before I have to buy more disks. She has chewed it so much some of the white bunches of bristles are completely gone. Now Gracie has decided she likes it too. When Gracie first came to us she didn't know how to chew on anything and she didn't play with anything. So it is good to see her showing interest in toys.

This treat dispensing ball called Amaze a Ball was also worth the cash! You fill the ball from one end and the treats have to work themselves over interior baffles to finally get out the other end. You don't need to buy special treats for this ball. We used Milkbones, dry dog food... anything that fits in the hole. They do trap some moisture in it from chewing which then wets the food inside and sometimes makes it adhere to the baffles (nothing soap and water can't take care of). When Hope is working on getting treats out it often sounds like a toilet plunger when she is compressing the ball with the hole in her mouth! :-} This toy is made out of rubber so it is bouncy and chewy and just all round durable and fun. It comes in three sizes the yellow one is the middle size. Hope is strong enough to compress this one with her jaws and crush the treats inside. The larger one might be harder for her but she hasn't destroyed this one yet and it works great!
Another good buy is the Jolly Ball. It's a large hard plastic ball that isn't inflated. Some come with a handle and some come with a braided rope running through it. They float too!
  
Hope loves hers and surprisingly she has the ability to grab and compress the ball in her jaws and carry it. Considering it is an 8" diameter ball that's impressive! She will drag it around by the rope too but prefers to bite into the ball to carry. We've had the ball since last Spring and we have taken it to the river and to the lake. It is an excellent water retrieving toy. Just don't throw it in a moving river... if your dog won't go get it you've lost it or you better be prepared to go for a dip! 

The ball has many teeth holes all over it now, and it does tend to fill with water, but it still works just fine. I will throw it for her to run and grab or kick it and we'll have a soccer game.

Hope has worked her way through so many tennis balls! Each one stripped of it's felt coat and the rubber halves chewed up. (Thankfully she doesn't swallow all the stuff she's chewed up!) So I went on a hunt to find a ball that was indestructible. One suggestion was to try a Lacrosse ball; so off I went to find one. Lacrosse balls are definitely indestructible but they are also heavy and hard, solid rubber. Throwing these balls is not a good idea as the dog could easily break teeth trying to catch it. In my travels, and through inquiries I came across Chuckit! Ultra balls products. They make a natural rubber ball that looks like a tennis ball but is florescent orange with blue piping. Excellent visibility in the grass and bush - your dog can chew on it and it won't break down - it is soft enough they can compress it in their jaws and soft enough they can do a mid air catch and not hurt their teeth. Both Gracie and Hope love these ones. It comes with a launcher and the dogs run themselves ragged retrieving them... and with the launcher you can pitch like you're in the major leagues!  

Rawhide alternatives: As I commented on the "not-so-good buys" page; I'm not fond of rawhide. I have bought it many times in the past for other dogs with no problems but there are some issues with rawhide that I am leery of so have chosen to stay with safer alternatives. Hope has chewed any and all of the rawhide products in record time which leaves her with a stomach full of what? Dead cow skin. The purpose of the rawhide is for her to chew not eat. So, in saying that, I have found other products that in the long run are cheaper, don't fill her stomach and don't have the risk factors or the slimy, wet rawhide factor :-p

Nylabone products offer tons of hard chew toys in all strengths for your dog. The hard plastic ones get well chewed and for your money last way longer than rawhide. If your dog isn't taking to the Nylabone put a bit of peanut butter on it or cream cheese to entice them to play with it.  Hartz also has a hard nylon bone called Chew n' Clean that was received really well by Hope. We live in a small community, away from major stores, so access to some brands of dog toys is difficult. The Hartz products are available in our local grocery store which is convenient for us. 


Another good chew toy is the Hartz Zoo Balloons latex toys. Get the ones that say "Ultra durable". They squeak and are nice and chewy-stretchy. Hope hasn't chewed pieces off yet and we've had it for months and months. The squeaker is shot though - it wheezes more than squeaks. Their dura Play line of toys last as well. We have the Flexa foam Ball and the dura Play Bone and both are still in fine shape.


Kong toys are great too! We have two, the Kong Aqua which has a rope fed through the Kong so that it can be thrown into the water (or dry land) for retrieving. This one was fun I just made the mistake of leaving it with Hope and she chewed through the rope. We just kept it and use it like a Classic Kong. The Classic Kong is that weird shaped toy that looks like a snowman, with a hollow middle. We started using that as a treat toy stuffing it with treats. Well, Hope was emptying it in no time. She was able to crush the treats inside so they fell out easily. (Kong makes an Extreme Kong for mighty jaws. We haven't tried it). Now, instead of dry treats we spread cream cheese or peanut butter in it. She still can clean that sucker out in about 20 minutes but it keeps her busy for a while. Peanut butter is great but make sure you don't leave your dog with a peanut butter filled Kong and no access to drinking water.  It is not nice for your dog!!!! Also, make sure you give a cheese or peanut butter filled Kong to the dog on a surface you can wipe off. From licking the peanut butter or cheese it gets messy and can smear on other places.