Desperately Seeking Indestructible Dog Toys

Finding long lasting dog toys, is a big challenge. I will never forget the time we took a basket of new Christmas toys to a local dog park. We wanted to film the dogs playing with them. Everyone at the park was having a great time until Hungry Harry The Husky, came to play. I knew there was going to be trouble when I heard his mom say -- Oh no! -- and saw the look on her face. Within a split second, Hungry Harry took a Singing Christmas Dog toy, bit off its head, and swallowed it! Now you know why we called him Hungry Harry! (By the way, you can find this video -- with the dog toy consuming part cut out -- on You Tube, Christmas Dog Toys Focus Group.)

After many conversations with frustrated dog parents, and observing dogs playing with toys, I discovered a method of finding long lasting dog toys that your dogs will love. An indestructible dog toy simply does not exist; there are just too many talented dogs out there. You can find durable dog toys for your tough chewer. However, if you have a Hungry Harry -- do not give him toys! Never allow your dog to consume its toys! If your dog consumes any part of its toys, consult your Veterinarian and ask them what they recommend you give your dog instead of dog toys.

Do you have a Destroy Loving, Ball Loving, or Sound Loving dog? First, I recommend that you watch your dog during several play or destruction sessions. When you observe their play, try to discover what they like most about their toys. Do they play with toys on their own, or do you have to play too? Is there a certain texture they love? What is the first thing they do with a new toy? That question is easy to answer with Norman and Betsy, my dogs, Norman will search for the noisemaker, and Betsy will shake her new toy.

For the Destroy Loving Dog, the destruction sessions are the most important. How is your dog destroying their toys? Is there something that drives them to destroy them, such as squeakers? What part do they destroy first? Betsy and Norman rarely destroy a toy; however, I noticed that the dog toys they do destroy all have long stringy plush. Also check to see if your dog is ONLY destroying toys in front of you...that is an easy problem to solve just stop cheering them on!

Now its time to do dog toy detective work. Look at your dog's favorite toys. Do they have anything in common? What toys are in your dog's toy box that they never play with? Do the destroyed toys have anything in common? What do the toys that last, have in common? After you gathered the answers, use these Playing Styles to find toy recommendations.

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 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 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 toys without that trigger. When you purchase toys for this dog, get a wide variety of brands, textures, and sizes. Keep the tags of the durable 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...I know because this is Betsy The Farm Dog's favorite thing to do. 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 Quite 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...of course, Norman our Sound Loving Dog thinks that they are broken.

Sound Loving Dog -- Norman is a perfect example of a Sound Loving Dog. The minute he 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. Norman has been known to bite several squeak toys 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.

Remember the Hungry Harry Husky story -- never let your dog consume any part of a dog toy. In addition, I recommend that you watch your dog with their new toys. Never leave them alone until you know the toy is safe for their playing style. To find the specific toys I recommend for each Playing Style see BestFriends General Store's Playing Style Categories. Please let me know if you discover new dog Playing Styles and if these dog toy selecting hints work for your dog.