Puppy toys-budget related

[mrsbornkuntry]

This is our first puppy ever and she's costing me a fortune in dog toys! I suppose this is normal, I don't know, but I can't find one that she doesn't tear into little pieces the first day she gets it. She's 7 months old so I think she's done losing teeth.

The only thing she hasn't ruined completely is a soft cow that you put an empty water bottle into so it crinkles, but she manages to undo the velcro and take the bottles out and chew them and I worry about her cutting her mouth on them.

She prefers cloth or "fire hose" type material to rubber or plastic. She likes ropes, but she unravels them and takes them apart, too.

So any suggestions on more durable puppy toys?

 

[Gigi22]

Some breeds view the world as a whole as their own private chew toy for the first two years of their life--then they mature to the point where they can let it go. One word of advice, don't buy any rattan/wicker furniture! Years ago family friends lost an expensive set of rattan furniture (around $2K) to their puppy's activities.

 

[stsomewhere]

My dogs love pop bottles. We let them play with them- very cheap toy. our puppy will chew any stuffed toy we give him. Our 3 yr old does not.

They love sticks. We save the large one that fall from our tree. About 1in or 2in in diameter.

 

[Hannathy]

Try one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Kong-Wubba-La...TF8&qid=1339772984&sr=8-1&keywords=wubba+kong

and this:

http://www.amazon.com/Multipet-Nuts...UTF8&qid=1339773052&sr=1-1&keywords=rope+ball

Those are the 2 things my dog has not been able to destroy in short order. They have both lasted a year and are going strong. On the Kong the strips that hang down are frayed and torn but still on it and doing fine, and it squeaks when they bite down hard, and it is hard because it is tough but she loves them.

She has one of these also:
http://www.amazon.com/Grriggles-18-...ot/dp/B002YMGL8M/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_3

Have only had this one for 6 months but it is holding up great so far!

My dog is an 84 pound mix of golden, greyhound and bernese mountain dog and a few other things for reference. She just turned 3

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Some breeds view the world as a whole as their own private chew toy for the first two years of their life--then they mature to the point where they can let it go. One word of advice, don't buy any rattan/wicker furniture! Years ago family friends lost an expensive set of rattan furniture (around $2K) to their puppy's activities.

I have a basket that we keep blankets in that she used to try to chew, but we have her trained now to get toys out of her "toy box" when we tell her to "get a toy" which we do whenever she tries to chew our shoes (while they're on our feet, when they're not they go upstairs where she's not allowed). We used to crate her when we weren't home, but we don't have to anymore, she doesn't chew stuff when we're away, not even her toys, but I'm a SAHM and we have a big family so she usually has someone here with her.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Try one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Kong-Wubba-La...TF8&qid=1339772984&sr=8-1&keywords=wubba+kong

and this:

http://www.amazon.com/Multipet-Nuts...UTF8&qid=1339773052&sr=1-1&keywords=rope+ball

Those are the 2 things my dog has not been able to destroy in short order. They have both lasted a year and are going strong. On the Kong the strips that hang down are frayed and torn but still on it and doing fine, and it squeaks when they bite down hard, and it is hard because it is tough but she loves them.

She has one of these also:
http://www.amazon.com/Grriggles-18-...ot/dp/B002YMGL8M/ref=pd_sim_sbs_petsupplies_3

Have only had this one for 6 months but it is holding up great so far!

My dog is an 84 pound mix of golden, greyhound and bernese mountain dog and a few other things for reference. She just turned 3

Thanks, that first one looks like something she would love! She likes toys that squeaks, too, but she usually takes the squeakers out . I'm not sure what she is, she's a lab mixed with something, the vet thinks maybe pit. A friend of my daughter found her on the side of the road and tried to return her and the mom to their owner and the owner said they would "shoot them" if they came back so she had to find her a home because they couldn't keep her with their dog. My daughter was heartbroken so we took her in. She's only 25 lbs now, the vet thinks she's going to be mid-sized, not really big, but she tears her toys to pieces when she starts playing hard.

 

[Hannathy]

Thanks, that first one looks like something she would love! She likes toys that squeaks, too, but she usually takes the squeakers out . I'm not sure what she is, she's a lab mixed with something, the vet thinks maybe pit. A friend of my daughter found her on the side of the road and tried to return her and the mom to their owner and the owner said they would "shoot them" if they came back so she had to find her a home because they couldn't keep her with their dog. My daughter was heartbroken so we took her in. She's only 25 lbs now, the vet thinks she's going to be mid-sized, not really big, but she tears her toys to pieces when she starts playing hard.

There is no squeaker in it. It squeaks when they bite down and force air out the hole in the bottom. Yeah my idiot likes to eat the squeakers to! Like her Christmas duck that was supposed to be extra tough and she had the wing off and the squeaker out before the gifts had been all unwrapped.

These come in all different sizes, I just showed the big one since that is what we have and I guessed your puppy was big. We bought a small one for my sister's small beagle at Christmas.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

There is no squeaker in it. It squeaks when they bite down and force air out the hole in the bottom. Yeah my idiot likes to eat the squeakers to! Like her Christmas duck that was supposed to be extra tough and she had the wing off and the squeaker out before the gifts had been all unwrapped.

These come in all different sizes, I just showed the big one since that is what we have and I guessed your puppy was big. We bought a small one for my sister's small beagle at Christmas.

Oh, yeah, I saw that there are different sizes.

I don't think some of these companies test their products , I bought her one toy from walmart that was advertised as "extra durable" and "made from fire hose", she had the squeaker out in 10 minutes and it actually had stuffing in it so that was everywhere, too. Yesterday I got her a toy with two rubber rings and a cloth ring in the middle. This morning she chewed off the rubber rings so she could just play with the cloth one, but she hasn't ripped that one yet at least. I'm tired of wasting money on these toys that won't hold up to a puppy.

 

[MisWal]

Our pup loves to chew on a chunk of hose. Actually, he initially loved the entire hose , but has settled into one chunk that he plays with and chews on. People have mentioned that deer antlers as something to chew on that takes quite a while to get through.

 

[EeyoreEma]

Ours loves a set of plastic (really tough) puppy keys. She hated them when we first got them (around 6 months of age), but she is now 10 months old, and LOVES those keys. She carries them all over the house with her, which is great because otherwise she just chews everything else up, usually something not hers. She has also ruined all the other dog toys that "belong" to our older dog. No stuffed ones here or there is dog toy fuzz everywhere!!

 

[ssawka]

Find "safe" baby toys. They tend to be made better!

 

[WicketsMom]

We have a five month old lab puppy. We went to the thrift store and bought lots of stuffed animals there, washed them on the 'sanitize' setting in my steam washer/dryer, and she loves them! We just had to make sure that the ones we got for her did not have any hard pieces for eyes/noses that she could swallow, or be filled with beans. The toys made for kids seem to be better constructed than the ones for dogs, that get destroyed pretty quickly. She still has a Tickle Me Elmo that I bought off of eBay for another dog over ten years ago. We finally had to remove the battery compartment after it got left out in the rain several nights, but it did work for many years and is just now losing some of his stuffing.

 

[dzorn]

Buy a durable nylabone. She should always be caged when you are not home for her safety and the safety of your stuff.

Denise in MI

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Thank-you for all of the replies, you've given me alot of ideas. I didn't think about baby toys, I'll take a look at those, too.

 

[MichiganKris]

I buy most of my dog toys from petedge (it is an online company), they probably have most of the toys you have been mentioned here. I usually order a bunch at one time, and then slowly hand them out as the older ones get boring or need to be thrown away. I also let my dogs chew on plastic water bottles, they usually stop once they don't crinkle any longer, and have never actually eaten the plastic or cut their mouths. Elk antlers are also great for them, they are not cheap, but they last a really long time. My chewer is at a little over one year on hers, and I'm thinking about replacing it. They are very tough and they take a long time for them to even make a mark on the antler. My dogs won't touch nylabones, and I have a large assortment of them, so while they are great chew toys, some dogs won't touch them.

 

[tennisfan]

Wish I could help my parents have a beagle who is coming up to 2 years old & practically destroys every toy. The Kong Wubba just takes a little longer to do so anything else is in minutes. Fortunately it is only toys he destroys.

 

[Pesky]

Our dog would destroy dog toys in the blink of an eye. We stopped giving her what she destroyed, especially as we have young kids and didn't want the dog confusing her toys with theirs (which has happened). The Tuffie toys are pretty durable. http://www.tuffietoys.com/ Kong and similar ones are durable as well. Beyond that, I just stick to bully sticks for the dog to chew and she seems fine.

 

[RMAMom]

You have received a lot of great advice on toys but I want to ask how much exercise she gets? If she is under exercised she will destroy her toys out of boredom. If your not doing it already she should take a good 30 minute walk a day, if you are already doing that add a second walk and see if it helps.
Just a thought...

Also, bully sticks are great for chewing.

 

[ErinC]

The kong toys are the only things my dogs don't chew completely up. They love their kongs. I bought the kind you put treats in. You can buy several kong brand treats that go inside the kongs, but you can also use peanut butter and put them in the freezer. They love that!

 

[consumermonkey]

My adorable Boxer has destroyed many toys too (and trees, TV remotes and my week old contract phone last year - £250 bill to replace that came out of her bone money!). She is 2 1/2 now and is much better but I found the Kong brand to be perfect. I did buy her a child's toy bunny from Ikea and she liked carrying that around for a long time, only destroying it after about 9 months. Please be aware this was a doy for whom I bought "Rough and Rugged" toys designed to last which only lasted minutes.

Have a look around for antlers too. I bought a section of real antler for her last Christmas. It has worn down to about half original size, but she LOVES it. No splinters and no mess either.