Toys that Last

[Jsyracuse4]

Good Afternoon All,

Besides the food factor, I tend to find myself spending $200-250 a month at PetsMart trying to feed/enertain my two puppies. Although, at 8 months, they no longer resemble puppies. My biggest issue is finding toys that 1- are enertaining and 2- partially indestructible.

Now, they enjoy nothing more than a simple stuffed animal that they can obliterate into peices within minutes. Unfortunatley, nothing I hate more then the tug-o-war battle, followed by the stuffing snowfall.

Now to the question- Has any1 identified any toys that last for a good portion of time, enertain there corso, and also is cost effective. Any ideas throw them my way. My breeders suggestion made it all 2 hours.

Thanks,
Jim

 

[kbuchanan66]

The most inexpensive toys I have found are the ones I make. Like a plastic bottle in a pair of old jean legs tied at both ends. Or a tennis Ball in a pair of Jean leg tied.

Ones that I have bought was a Jolly Ball that was big enough that Barron had to work to get it in his mouth. and a KONG brand huge dumbbell type thing that is hollow in the middle there is a small crack in the rubber but he has not destroyed it yet.

 

[Jsyracuse4]

Thank you for the quick reply, I never thought about making toys but it seems logical. I'm going to spend some time looking into some options with household items.

 

[Iymala]

Jolly Balls and Cuz 's are two of my favorites that last forever. Water bottles are Claymores favorite tho.

 

[Ben Curtis]

I found a ball that looks somewhat like a 3-d packman. If you squeeze the sides the mouth opens, and you can insert a treat. If you put a large enough treat inside it does take some time for them to get it out. I think it is made by Kong. Besides that I have much the same problem.

Now that I think about it the best, cheap, entertaining toy that we get is the small bones from the butcher. I freeze them, and Leo chews on them for hours and hours.

 

[Jsyracuse4]

Some more great ideas! I am going to contact my local butcher to see what we can work out. Do you just ask for marrow bones or anything in particular?

 

[Iymala]

Ive always used marrow bones and they absolutely love them. Marrow is high in fat tho so if they get too much they can get the runs. Ive made that mistake before and it was unpleasant.

 

[Ben Curtis]

Our grocery store just has the bones out in a package at the end of the meet display. I have no idea what bones they are, but they usually are about an inch or two thick, and about 2" in diameter. I think people use them in stews, but I know many people that give them to there dogs. As long as the bones are raw they are safe.

 

[voidecho]

We haven't found anything that lasts too long unless we alter how we play with it. We use different toys for different things.

For playing fetch, we buy the stuffed kong type toys typically, however if we play tug of war and/or just let Lincoln sit there and eat at them, they'll be gone in no time. So we don't do that with those toys. We only play fetch, and make him bring it back to us. If he won't let go we don't pull on it which would just rip the toy quicker. He likes to play fetch, so eventually he'll give it up so we can throw it again. Once we're done playing fetch, the toy goes up on the fridge. Since we've started doing this, his toys have been lasting quite a long time.

We use the kong sports balls, ballistic toys, and definitely the wubbas for playing catch.

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/sport-balls/

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/plush-toys/ballistic/ballistic-extreme-ring/

http://www.kongcompany.com/products/for-dogs/wubba/wubba/wubba-classic/

If we're going to play tug of war, we will use the wubbas above to an extent, but typically we use a rope:

http://www.academy.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_10051_643705_-1

Then, if we're just going to let him lay down and gnaw on something, we give him really hard nyla bones, deer or elk antlers, and then he gets a marrow bone at least once a week and he'll gnaw on the bone for a few days after finishing off all of the good stuff inside.

Basically, I've found that different toys should be used for different types of playing/chewing.

 

[mx5055]

Bella is an almost 7 month old CC and she absolutely loves her Jolly Ball...which so far has remained indestructible. It's the one with the handle, and she loves carrying it by that. She also loves the flirt pole, and since I control that I have been able to make sure it's not destroyed...so far, lol. You just want to make sure they don't do a lot of high jumping, but you can control that also. She also loves her crackle/squeaky bottle alligator toy...the bottle is not indestructible, but we just keep replacing the water bottle inside as it is the lid that actually makes it squeaky/crackly. She also loves marrow bones, which I freeze first and then they last her a bit...though she is getting quicker finishing them off!! She also absolutely goes crazy over licking out empty peanut butter jars...I save those for when I want some peace for an hour or even 2...you just have to be sure and take the plastic jar away as soon as they are done...sometimes I actually then clean those out and save for another time, then smear peanut butter way down in the bottom and use again...what can I say...I like having my morning coffee in peace!!

 

[ruthcatrin]

Cardboard boxes, or cardboard rolls from inside things. If you have a photo printing place nearby see what they do with the rolls from inside the paper, they're big heavy and my two love shredding them. Cardboard makes a mess, and I guess it doesn't last, but its cheap!

 

[DennasMom]

Denna likes to make her own toys - she's been working on a big plastic plant container (like what plants come in from the nursery) for a few months now. She particularly likes the part where she gets to shake the expensive plant OUT of the container, before she sits down to maul the plastic, itself.

 

[Yamizuma]

Tali loves her Kong Genius...most of the time, though she does lose interest in it sometimes

 

[raechiemay]

I would like to say that my EM pup is an exception to the "kongs are indestructible" rule. She has completely destroyed her kong. It is unrecognizable. I even thought about mailing it to Kong & asking if they thought that looked indestructible. I now have to watch her with the remaining chunk of it bc she gets those teeth going on it & can literally pull more chunks off it. Why don't I throw it away? Bc it's like her precious. She goes psycho over it & I would feel mean if I took away her security rubber chunk. I'll throw it away one of these days.

I like the idea of the jolly ball. Will have to look into that. Are you guys buying the horse versions?

 

[Yamizuma]

Also cheap, though very destructible...Tali LOVES to play hokey with ice cubes. Might be because she's Canadian. LOL

 

[Yamizuma]

Hokey = hockey.

 

[raechiemay]

Hokey = hockey.

Does she think the hokey pokey is what it's all about? sorry I couldn't resist!!

 

[Yamizuma]

Heh heh heh!!! She shoots, she scoooooooooooooooooores!

 

[CorsoCorso]

Now that it's warm out a water bowl filled with water & ice outside entertains Gio to no end! It's his own personal game of bobbing for apples. He also has a deer antler, which you can buy at any pet store or on Amazon, that he gnaws on and has yet to even damage.

 

[Leonidas' keeper]

We play Tug-O-War with an old fire hose. Leonidas loves it and hasn't ripped it to shreds yet!

As for other toys, we are too, at a lost. I'll have to look into all the great suggestions everyone has!