Dog Toys

More about Dog Toys

Choosing dog toys is less about the toy and more about the dog. A power chewer will shred a plush duck in ten minutes. A nervous rescue may ignore a squeaky ball, then work a snuffle mat for an hour. Everything here does one of four jobs.

• Chew toys for dogs that destroy things: natural rubber, nylon bones, coffee wood sticks and dental chews, plus softer silicone and teething toys for puppies.
• Squeaky and plush toys for gentler players: ducks with a deep quack, pigs, octopuses and chicken legs, including no stuffing designs that leave nothing to clear up.
• Fetch and outdoor toys for the garden and the park: balls with handles, soccer balls with nylon tabs, flying discs, pop up saucers and automatic rolling balls.
• Puzzle and enrichment toys for the brain: snuffle balls, lick mats, treat hiding carrot gardens and fillable rubber toys you can freeze.

Match the toy to how your dog plays, not to how it looks. Skip anything small enough to swallow, watch the first few sessions with a new toy, and bin it once the seams or the rubber start to give. If the real problem is boredom rather than energy, the signs are barking at nothing, chewing skirting boards and following you from room to room. An enrichment toy will settle that dog faster than another lap of the park.