Smilin' Jake Recommends...
Everlasting Treat Ball
Rumble Ring
These products and more are available from Petlane--the company that brings the petstore to your front door!
Why Buy Toys, Treats and Chews for Your Dog? (And what's the difference?)
Us dogs are pretty smart. To keep us challenged and from getting bored, you need to give us new toys and games every so often.
Let's face it: one of the reasons us dogs are your best friends is 'cuz we ARE so smart! Unfortunately, most of you people have to leave us alone for 6 or more hours each day when you go to work, school or attend to your other duties. Us dogs can get bored--and that boredom often turns into mischief. We aren't really looking to destoy your favorite (fill in the blank here with shoe/sofa/carpet/article of clothing etc.), we're just looking for something interesting to do!
My mom is pretty smart and rotates my toys so that I always have 3 or 4 available--the rest are in the closet. I usually have one plush (like my Wild Thangs Rabbit), one that I have to work to get treats out of (like my Everlasting Treatball) and one fast chase toy (like my Rumble Ring or my Barnyard Tireball).
I'm not much of a chewer--I mouth my plush toys but don't destroy them. If you've got a destroyer on your hands, you might want to try a rope product. Although eventually your dog may shred it, it's not as potentially harmful to your dog as eating the inside (including a squeeker!) of other plush toys.
What I DO destroy are toys that have hard "frisbee"-type plastic on them. That's why mom chose the Rumble Ring for me. I like that chase toy because it's like three toys in one: plush, with squeakers (3!), and a frisbee.
And if she happens to find a toy like the Barnyard Tireball that DOES have hard plastic on it and yet she thinks is a good, stimulating toy, I only get to play with it while I am supervised. This is really ok with me, because it ensures that we have some good quality playtime together. And when the game is done, Barnyard Tireball gets put in the drawer. (Although I do have a funny story about Barnyard Tireball making its noises when the desk got bumped and me going crazy trying to find it...)
And mom doesn't leave the toys out forever. She was finding that--aside from the obvious clutter of a dozen dog toys--I wasn't as interested in playing with any of them. And so nearly every month, we add one to the collection--and generally end up discarding one that is no longer in good or safe condition.
And what's funny is that I don't seem to miss any one toy when it's gone (except Everlasting Treatball) and I'm excited to see the "new" ones that come out of storage.
What I can't believe is that mom is trying to teach me to put them in the toy box when I'm done with them...