Going beyond the rubber ball: What are the best pet toys?

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Zooville Philanthropist
Just looking for some fancy ideas for pet toys beyond just the boring dozens of types of rubber balls out there. What puzzles / toys / games do your pets like the most?

If you are new to this topic here are some fancier puzzles I know of listed in no particular order:
https://www.amazon.com/Nina-Ottosson-Outward-Hound-Puzzle/dp/B0719Q89XH?tag=november2019rover-20
https://www.amazon.com/SPOT-Treat-D...oredom/dp/B00JN9N8XU?tag=november2019rover-20
https://www.amazon.com/Trixie-4590-...activity&qid=1587087309&s=pet-supplies&sr=1-1
https://www.amazon.com/Trixie-32025...activity&qid=1587087338&s=pet-supplies&sr=1-2
 
It depends on the dog, really. A terrier mix I'm familiar with, for example, absolutely LOVES to play tug of war, for hours. She'll even hang by her teeth from the rope or ball if you let her. She does have a tendency to chew, if you let her, so the toys have to be pretty durable.

One of her favorites is a hollow rubber ball which looks a bit like this:
Rubber Ball (2).jpg

She grips it in her mouth, and you can grab the other end with your fingers and tug on it for a very long time. Or toss it to play fetch. I'm sure they make larger ones for larger dogs, but rope bones or toys shaped like rubber tires are good options too.
 
My boy is a fan of playing tag, or "rather you can't get this toy from me" so anything that just catches his fancy.

Tug-o-war is a good one too, got lots of ropes just for that.
 
Kiruk said:
My boy is a fan of playing tag, or "rather you can't get this toy from me" so anything that just catches his fancy.

Tug-o-war is a good one too, got lots of ropes just for that.
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"Keep away" is another favorite of hers. She'll sit just out of arm's reach with her toy and look at you, begging you to take it. If you ignore her, she'll get closer until she's pressing the toy into your hands.
 
Kynophile said:
"Keep away" is another favorite of hers. She'll sit just out of arm's reach with her toy and look at you, begging you to take it. If you ignore her, she'll get closer until she's pressing the toy into your hands.
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Same. He'll single me out just so I'll reach for it. He'll get all growly and happy.
 
I cant get my husky to play with anything.
she loves running with other dogs, and chasing birds squirrels and deer
She's so submissive that tug of war ends as soon as you reach for the toy
she wont chase balls
she chews on things, so there is that, but she does not play with any stuffed toys, just chews bones.

I know she is bored, but I dont know what I can do for her to entertain her better
 
Any chance you can teach her some new tricks or take her outdoors for an adventure? A swim or new places to explore/walk/sniff may help entertain her.

I know Huskies are bred to be sledding or weight-pulling dogs, so maybe she might appreciate running and the outdoors more rather than toys. :giggle:
 
1000extra said:
Any chance you can teach her some new tricks or take her outdoors for an adventure? A swim or new places to explore/walk/sniff may help entertain her.

I know Huskies are bred to be sledding or weight-pulling dogs, so maybe she might appreciate running and the outdoors more rather than toys. :giggle:
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She does, I just hate that she doesn't really do much when I'm at work
 
Does she like watching tv? There is a dog specific tv show you can subscribe to, but you will need a tv with at least an 80 hz refresh rate. Dogs have a higher flicker rate than humans, so a 60 hz tv looks like an old movie projector to them, as they can see each individual frame as it goes by.

 
Kynophile said:
Another possibility is to involve her in pulling a small sled, or running around with other dogs/huskies.
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I've though about doing the sled idea with a skate board, but I need to work on her people shyness before I do that. If she sees a person she tends to want to run away
I used to take her to the dog park every other day, but they're all closed in my area right now until further notice
I run with her as much as I can but I get wore out more easy than normal right now as its deep in tree allergen season
 
@Umbre25

Have you tried hiding treats for her, so she can go around the house and sniff to find them?
Start easy with just laying a few on the floor, so that she can see them. Release her with a command like "search" and let her eat them. If she understood the concept, you can start hiding them on the floor all around the house and later increase difficulty by hiding them on higher objects or under objects like rugs or whatever.

You can also get a box or something similar. Put towels or crumbled up paper balls in there. Then throw some treats in there and let her pick the food out of there.

There is also a thing called "kong". You can fill that thing with delicious food and freeze it if you like. Make it interesting for her by putting peanut butter or something as delicious like that on the opening. She will lick everything out of it and probably be a little tired after finishing the kong. Make sure to get the right size.
The kong is extremely durable, quite unbreakable, get like 2 of them if you like. She can chew down on it, throw it across the room and whatever else she likes to do with it. It also is beneficial for calmness, decreases stress and so on.
 
I have a Lab (~1 year old) and I buy a lot of rubber-based toys for the sole reason that he can't shred them. He seems to get something out of pulling out squeakers or shredding toys, so we like to give him something he can't destroy when he plays inside. My biggest find for him is just a lacrosse ball - it's virtually indestructible - since he's not so bright that I have to worry about puzzle toys. I also do agility with him to tire him out, so that's another toy/play option.
 
Our favorite is an Rc truck with a stuffed animal attached to it. it goes way faster than I could possibly run and when they catch it the usually bring it back to me. All I gotta do is turn it on and rev the motor and Tank will almost do back flips. the other 4 will chase it but Tank, that is is absolute favorite toy.
 
I have a really tough plush armadillo, it is built for dogs and pretty hard to destroy and it is kind of heavy. My dog loves it.
 
my girl doesn't play with toys anymore, but when she did she loved to play with her ball. it's kinda heavy and made of some sort of hardened rubber (it's pretty much indestructible) and has various edges on it so when you throw it or she drops it it bounces in a random direction instead of straight forward.
 
My boy loves rope toys. He destroys everything he plays with and the rope he eats doesn't even get digested, rubber toys would worry me.

Roxxi said:
Our favorite is an Rc truck with a stuffed animal attached to it. it goes way faster than I could possibly run and when they catch it the usually bring it back to me. All I gotta do is turn it on and rev the motor and Tank will almost do back flips. the other 4 will chase it but Tank, that is is absolute favorite toy.
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That sounds fun I'll try this! Thanks
 
littleblonde said:
Search for 'kong' toys, ours loves them
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Can vouch for Kong toys.
Our dog has a squeaky bone shaped Kong toy and she loves it.

Plus they're practically indestructible, our dog is notorious for being able to reduce any toy to shreds within days or even hours.
She's had her Kong ones for years now though and they show next to no signs of damage.
 
Yeah, the Kong toys are great. I got the classic Kong toy, ball, frisbee, wheel and dental stick primarliy for the senior boy and thus far they are very rigid.
The plushies are hit and miss. My girl is able to destroy most plushies after 30mins of usage by soaking them in saliva and just ripping them apart, like the knotted bear. But her giraffe still looks like new.

She adores sniffing mats, Torgas chewing roots and mental exercise toys (I swear she's got some elephant in her genes 'cause after she figured them out pretty quickly, she never forgets how to solve them).
 
Deer antlers. They love them and they last very long.
 
The only toys my girl with play with is stuffed toys with squeakers in them. But she will rip a small hole right in the middle and remove all of the stuffing. She does not tear it apart any further after that. Does anyone else’s pup do this, and if so do you know why?
 
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