Toys
What toys you would find on your dog's wish-list?
Phew, it’s really hard to pick favourites, but let’s try! :) Our dogs need mental stimulation; giving food for free is a wasted opportunity. So, besides using their food for training, we can use it to occupy our dogs and make them calm and mentally satisfied by using food toys. Here are a few examples:
For dog and human to play together:
Recordable Buttons! You can teach your dog to communicate with you by pushing buttons that ask to go outside, or get a cuddle, or do some training, or get an enrichment feeder, or go for a walk, or play with a toy, or…. the options are plenty!
Tug Toys! A game of tug is such an amazing opportunity to bond and exert some energy. Did you know that scientists have determined that it takes approximately 400 repetitions to create a new synapse in the brain - unless it is done with PLAY, in which case, it takes between 10-20 repetitions. A magic training wand?
We particularly like the long and soft Puppy Tug Set for puppies and the PULLER rings for those stronger dogs where we want to keep our hands nicely away. They are very light, odourless, float and due to its special material doesn't injure the dog's teeth or gums. Both come in a pack of 2, so they are great for 'drop' training. Handier for on your walks are the Julius K9 Leather Tugs which are nice and slim and can therefore easily be popped in your pocket.Flirt Pole! A piece of exercise equipment for dogs that entices a dog to chase a fast moving lure. Often used for training impulse control and more or simply to get a dog to exert a lot of energy in a small space.
For dog to play on their own, without food:
Magic Destuffer! Most dogs to have a natural urge for dissecting things which is something we need to provide as well. Lots of people use stuffed animals, but keep buying new ones and clean up the mess. So, we use a Holee Roller and stuff it with stripes of fleece blanket. However, you would need to supervise to ensure the dog doesn't digest the fleece strips or chew the Holee Roller once all the destuffing is done.
Got a chewer? Our favourites are the Drifty for a tad softer material, the Wood Chew Stick for tougher chewing and the Toughest GoughNuts Ring with 9-months-guarantee for really serious destroyers!
Mega Egg! Hard to pick up, so dogs go crazy pushing it around. Not just fun for them, also great fun to watch! :)
Like it soft and squeaky? One of the sturdier soft toys is the Rowdie. Not suitable for hardcore destroyers, but much better than your standard ducky. Same for the Squeak Snake, but how cool are all those durable squeakers!? And then there is something about the hidden Squirrels that makes dogs love these! Remember that no toy is indestructible and these ones here while sturdy have not been designed for aggressive and destructive chewers.
For dog to play on their own, with food:
Snuffle Ball! Our secret favourite. This ball is so easy to fill, takes ages to play with and can be used to just toss around without banging loudly against the walls. We love this find!
Kong Wobbler! A great toy that’s basically indestructible and comes in 2 sizes. The dog needs to push it with nose or paws and sometimes treats fly out and sometimes not. You can make it harder by putting a ball inside. Not suitable for inside the crate. Same for the Kong Gyro. If your dogs loves pushing things around, they’ll love the Gyro. It’s a nice wee challenge and can hold a good amount of their kibble meal.
WestPaw Toppl! These toys have a 90-day replacement guarantee and are super tough but soft at the same time. You can pop the small Toppl into the big Toppl and then give it a slight turn, it’ll be quite a challenge to get them apart, but if filled with yummy stuff your experienced enrichment pup won’t give up.
Planet Dog Snoop! Another favourite, the standard size fits a whole cup of kibble inside and they are heaps of fun to solve. They also come as the Lil’ Snoop which is for smaller dogs or those that want to use bigger treats and make it a bit harder to solve. It's a toy for picking up and tossing around, so not really suitable for inside the crate. To make it harder you can go for the Extreme Bouncer version instead.
Kong! A Kong is a great toy that you can stuff with food. It's solid and can be used for licking, chewing and tossing. Once your dog is good at getting the food out, you can even freeze it. Did you know the black is for even tougher chewers?
WestPaw Qwizl! A really simple toy but yet so awesome. We use them in Puppy Class for the pups that need something to focus on. The treats smell from all sides and keep the pups engaged while it also holds meaty chews for extra long fun.
Planet Dog GuRu! Has a durability rating of 5/5 which means that it’s great even for strong chewers and comes with a replacement guarantee. It can also be filled in a nicely challenging way and is for licking, chewing and tossing, so very versatile.
Lickimat! Licking stimulates saliva to aid digestive health and releases a calming hormone into the body. Whilst Lickimats are not very challenging, they do slow your dog down nicely and can be very calming, especially if frozen. They come in many varieties of which one is especially designed for bath time with a suction cup. A more challenging and fun licki toy is the Snack Snake!
Snuffle Mat! These ones are made in Christchurch, done with a washable base and tightly knotted, so treats don’t just fall through. For the more patient snuffler, you could also check out the Snuffle Blanket!
Nina Ottosson Puzzles! Fight boredom and keep your dog busy with these treat dispensing puzzle toys of huge variety. Fun for all dogs, regardless of age, size or breed, these puzzle toys entertain, engage and challenge your dog every time they play! Available at different levels of ‘challenging’.
Easy ish toss-about treat dispensers! There are a few more worth mentioning for soft toys that are not too tricky to use (neither for the filling nor for the pup’s dispensing) and won’t be loud against your furniture: the Rewards Ball, the Rewards Shell and the Mazee.
