Dutch Shepherd Forum

So, Geyser (now nearly 8 months old) turns out to be a very heavy duty chewer. She loves to chew things. I like to give her things to chew that are allowed .

However, she's also starting to eat some of the things she chews...not good. I found a few pieces of felt recently in her poop. She doesn't eat the stuffing of toys, thankfully, but little bits of cloth she tears off? Seems to like those just fine. Sigh.

That's one issue...eating bits of the soft toys.

Then, there's just the toy-destroying issue . I got one of those fire hose stuffed toys the other day, thinking I was purchasing one of the ones you can put a plastic bottle in...but it wasn't that kind, it was stuffed. I thought, "well, good; a stuffed toy that may last!" Wrong! She had a corner of the end chewed off within minutes, and before long, the whole end, and then was eviscerating it, pulling the stuffing out. Double sigh.

So, new rule is that she can't have anything made of fabric unless we're playing with it together. Otherwise, it's put up or away.

I am looking for toy recommendations for her. Do any of you know of any softish toys that are much more resistant to being torn up? She loves the fabric and stuffed toys, but they don't last even an hour. Perhaps there are some out there I don't know about?

Right now, I'm only leaving heavy duty rubber toys with her to play with on her own. She's not the least bit interested in Kongs, unless they're stuffed . She has split open a Bowser ball...the second one I have will be reserved for mutual play (those things aren't cheap, either!). She destroyed a Buddy Ball (the ones that glow in the dark), but it was a very old one, and I will try another, in the hopes that it just was old and easier to tear up. I think this will be reserved for mutual play tho, too. She has a rubber bone (JW brand) that she likes and seems very tough. Just got another rubber ball...the really glossy ones that are chewy but seem very solid (the woof ones). A couple of very hard molded rubber things...like keys on a keyring (for teething pups), and a hollow stick thing (she likes this one). It's very hard.

So, I am looking for toy recommendations for very hard chewers.

My dogs are pretty much restricted to nylabones (which they love) and squirrel dudes - made by premier pet products. The squirrels are like kongs, but tougher and they have rubber fingers over the opening to make it harder to get the stuffing out. I have used the other premier toys, but they don't seem to stand the test of time.

I still give fabric toys. I just buy cheap stuffed animals at the dollar store or salvation army. I let them tear them up to their hearts content on special occasions and then clean up the "snow" covered living room.

I use Kong toys, Busy Buddy toys, Nylabones (they have a bunch of new fun shapes that Madix LOVES - like the dinosaurs and this: http://www.dog.com/item/nylabone-dura-c ... ew/494863/), elk antlers, femur bones with filling...We also like the Orbee Tough Ball and I've heard good things about the Zogoflex brand but haven't personally tried it. I have a Jolly Ball that Madix is required to carry when we're outside and a slew of balls/tugs for various dog sports.

Orbee makes some great toys...
http://www.planetdog.com/ProductInfo.as ... BEE%20BALL
http://www.planetdog.com/ProductInfo.as ... EE%20BONES
http://www.planetdog.com/ProductInfo.as ... tid=COSMOS

Here are some of our other favorites
http://www.allk-9.com/egge-dog-toy-p-109.html
http://www.allk-9.com/the-hurley-p-744.html (comes with a replacement guarantee!)

thanks for all the ideas...I'll check them out.

I like orbee balls...will have to see what else they have.

Christie, I like the idea of dollar store toys for her to demolish, too...doesn't hurt so much if it only costs a buck

But, so far, it's not looking like there are any fabric type toys out there that can really stand up to a tough chewer...bummer

Leih, just make sure that she doesnt swallow any of the stuffing from the toys. I assist a vet friend in surgeries often and we have seen a lot of dogs come in who had ingested some of the stuffing which come to find out is very toxic (made in China).

GSDNanny wrote:Leih, just make sure that she doesnt swallow any of the stuffing from the toys. I assist a vet friend in surgeries often and we have seen a lot of dogs come in who had ingested some of the stuffing which come to find out is very toxic (made in China).

No lie! so far, she doesn't eat any of the stuffing, but she has started to eat some of the outside fabrics....which is why she can't have them alone any longer.

The good thing is that she's an ace at "go to bin," which is my cue for throwing out something in the trash bin. So, she gets to throw out everything she tears up, which seems to be a very fun game for her .

I second the jolly balls! There are all different sizes but I would recommend going to TSC or another horse supply store and getting the horse ones as they are bigger and cheaper. I also think antlers are the best things for chewing on that I have seen. I think you are out of luck for stuffed toys. Any of mine that want to chew through them will do it in a heartbeat. You could try a fleece rope if she doesn't want to shred that. There is no stuffing so your pup may not be as into it. Good luck!

I also have a stuffing shredder, but those stuffless toys are pretty neat. It doesn't bleed fun looking white stuff everywhere so Dee is not inclined to swallow it like other toys. I actually had one last about a month now, but it's almost trash time. He only gets it if momma is around. A local company makes felece toys, they pretty much melt before he can eat them. And his alltime favorite "toy" is natural chicken stock frozen in stick shapes (careful not to make small enough to choke on). All his other toys are strictly nylabone or kong, for his tummy's sake.

I have an old kart-tyre in the kennel, undestructable Bounces quite nicely too :fluffy:

Marjolein wrote:I have an old kart-tyre in the kennel, undestructable Bounces quite nicely too :fluffy:

The cheapest (free ) most indestructible toy I have found for my guys are also small tires off of lawmowers or trailers. Great for outdoors.

GSDNanny wrote:

Marjolein wrote:I have an old kart-tyre in the kennel, undestructable Bounces quite nicely too :fluffy:

The cheapest (free ) most indestructible toy I have found for my guys are also small tires off of lawmowers or trailers. Great for outdoors.

and ONLY outdoors They bounce pretty high

Here is a picture of my three GSDs playing tug with a trailer tire. Zip isnt included as she doesnt play nice with others!!! What's her's is her's and what's their's is her's too!

Cute pic!

Tires are great...but they're not a fabric toy! I'm pretty well set with the rubber type things, just was hoping someone would know of some fabric types that would stand up a bit better. Sigh. Oh well... (it's called a pipe dream anyway<g>)

the mentioned orbee balls are good, and I've got a starmark ball, suggested by Judith. They are good too.

http://www.dogtoys.com/starmark.html

I've got the fantastic foam ball, but that everlasting thing survived the rottweilers on my dog club,Pan (http://www.working-dog.eu/dogs-details/ ... use-Enzian) plays with it, and his head is about 3 times the width of Ivil's head Sshock:

I get stuffed toys from a company called MYDOGTOY.com, the material is super tough and they are sewn for heavy duty chewers. I don't know if they sell on line but think they may only be available thru pet stores. They have a huge selection of shapes (dinosaurs, footballs, frisbees, etc) and they come in many sizes. I have a big green dinosaur that is literally as big as my DS Zori that is holding up extremely well! I stay away from shapes that have lots of skinny legs or open mouths with "teeth", those always get tested first! I have found them at Petsmart but they don't have a wide selection of shapes or colors.

Good luck!!

Deanna

muttnutty wrote:I get stuffed toys from a company called MYDOGTOY.com, the material is super tough and they are sewn for heavy duty chewers. I don't know if they sell on line but think they may only be available thru pet stores. They have a huge selection of shapes (dinosaurs, footballs, frisbees, etc) and they come in many sizes. I have a big green dinosaur that is literally as big as my DS Zori that is holding up extremely well! I stay away from shapes that have lots of skinny legs or open mouths with "teeth", those always get tested first! I have found them at Petsmart but they don't have a wide selection of shapes or colors.

Good luck!!

Deanna

thanks...definitely worth checking out! This is exactly what I'm hoping to find...IF they can pass the Geyser test, they'll really be amazing :fluffy:

I have used those and found they hold up better than most stuffed toys but the really dedicated chewers will go to the seams and still rip them up. If you can get a ball shaped one or something without edges you might be in luck.

bestlind wrote:I have used those and found they hold up better than most stuffed toys but the really dedicated chewers will go to the seams and still rip them up. If you can get a ball shaped one or something without edges you might be in luck.

Yeah, I think that's a great idea. I was checking out their site and was quite impressed. Just gotta save up a few pennies

muttnutty wrote:I get stuffed toys from a company called MYDOGTOY.com, the material is super tough and they are sewn for heavy duty chewers. I don't know if they sell on line but think they may only be available thru pet stores. They have a huge selection of shapes (dinosaurs, footballs, frisbees, etc) and they come in many sizes. I have a big green dinosaur that is literally as big as my DS Zori that is holding up extremely well! I stay away from shapes that have lots of skinny legs or open mouths with "teeth", those always get tested first! I have found them at Petsmart but they don't have a wide selection of shapes or colors.

Yes! But only the toys rated "10" for toughness hold up for more than a day or two in my house. Zane has a huge octopus that's lasted for more than a month of chewing (he's gotten the squeakers out of most of the legs, but the body's still stuffed and he still thinks it's fun). The "8"s only last about an hour with him, so I'd say it's worth spending the extra $10 or so to go up to the "10"s. The nice thing about these toys is that they sew the squeakers into pouches inside of the toy so you have an extra few minutes to get the squeaker away from the dog once the dog has opened up the toy.