13 Great Dog Toys (and some not so great)
With so many dogs, and occasional litters of puppies, we go through tons of dog toys. Just like little kids, sometimes the best toys are items that were never meant for that purpose.
1. The all time, BEST dog toy that everyone loves...the frozen soda bottle full of ice! When we had our first litter some 25 years ago, the pups were screaming because they were hot. My friend Mary told me to fill some empty soda bottles with water and freeze them and put them in with the pups. This went against all veterinary advice I got, but in desperation, I gave it a try. Viola! Happy and quiet puppies! I soon learned that its harder to keep Akita puppies cool enough, than warm enough. Here is Dylan as a pup with his bottle, and then Peter and Bugs (now Parker and Nushi) with theirs.
2. Empty soda bottles, milk jugs, plastic juice bottles - these are always a big hit with dogs of all ages. They are best before they get squished and don't roll or make noise anymore, but even then they are good for tossing around and chasing.
3. Tennis balls. We don't play tennis, but I regularly buy packages of colored tennis balls from Petedge. Smiley's favorite game is "3 Ball Run." He plays this with Marc. Marc takes 3 tennis balls, and throws one - Smiley chases that one, then Marc throws another...Smiley changes his direction and goes after that one and picks it up, at which point Marc throws the third...Smiley runs after that one and then tries to decide which ball he really wants...he can usually get two in his mouth at the same time, but hasn't been able to grab all three yet. Because our yard slopes toward the rear, it doesn't take long for the pups to learn they can carry a tennis ball to the top of the yard and then chase it down to the back. Great fun!
4. Old sneakers and slippers. Old sneakers are really great because they can be grabbed by the tongue and swung around like some kind of dead critter. Sometimes slippers have padding in them (usually when they are still new and not meant to be dog toys yet!!) and they're fun to tear up into shreds. The added plus with both old sneakers and old slippers is the great smell they have.
5. The gas hose running from the back of the stove to the gas pipe. This is one of the NOT so good dog toys! Oscar, who is owned by Gail and Susan in NJ, tried this one afternoon while waiting for them to get home from work. Thankfully they got home before the house blew up!
6. Old basketballs or soccer balls. These are lots of fun, even if they lose air. They can be swung around and used to thwack unsuspecting owners on the back of the legs, usually leaving a lovely bruise. They are fun to chase, too, before they get flat.
7. Marrow bones. These are best frozen and then given out as a frozen treat. It takes a long time to work that marrow out and is good for hours of enjoyment. I like to get the bones that still have some meat on them and that are about 4 inches long, but we aren't overly fussy about it. In a pinch, bones that are empty can be stuffed with a peanut butter/oatmeal mixture and frozen, and they are almost as good. The dogs always try to grab these bones and sneak them outside, and I have to say they are usually pretty successful at this. In the spring, when all the snow melts, our yard looks like a bone graveyard! Another fun thing they like to do, and Lisa was a pro at this, was to lick the bone while balancing it on one end...then walking away and leaving a kind of "Bonehenge" design behind.
8. Stuffie toys with squeakers are great, but usually last longer than one day only with young puppies. Biz has a couple he hasn't destroyed, but sadly, most of them end up as empty pieces of fleecy fabric with the stuffing spread all around it. Not to worry, though, because those empty sacks of fabric are still fun to tear up and throw around!
9. An old tire. It's good for dragging around for a while, but then when it gets stuck in a corner, it's fantastic for digging in. We've had one in the same spot for years, and it's got a hole about 18 inches deep through the middle hole, and some enterprising youngster who could still fit through the hole started a tunnel off to one side. As long as no wild critter decides that would make a great den, I won't fill it in because I'd rather have them digging there than in the middle of the yard!
10. A coconut bra. (an inside joke!)
11. Pig snouts, sows' ears, bully sticks - all kinds of odd leftover body parts that some imaginative person thought would be great doggy treats once smoked and dried out. He must be a millionaire 20 times over by now. The best place to buy this stuff is from whitedogbone.com - their prices are great and delivery is fast. We don't ever want to run out of these goodies here!
12. Scarves and gloves. This is a seasonal toy, best when one can be grabbed off the kitchen table or chair, or couch, or wherever it may have been inadvertently left where a dog could grab it while running outside. It's double fun if the human who owns the article can be enticed into chasing after the item in the deep snow, or on the ice, or even in some slushy mud. Triple the laughs if the owner slips and falls!
13. Paper towel or gift wrap tubes. These are short lived fun, as they rip pretty easily, but puppies really enjoy them. A related type of goody would be empty ice cream cartons pulled from the trash. This is Paula's specialty, and she is brazen enough to bring it into the living room and proceed to first lick it out, then tear it into shredded paper right in front of us!
I made him go out to burn off some of that energy, but once he saw it was raining he decided he was going to melt and thought he'd be better off laying in front of the fan.
Mandisa does the sneak lick thing, too, but she does it when I've fallen asleep on the couch - that's when she decides I need a big slurp across my face. Yuck, that's not the way I prefer to be woken up.
