When Buying A Toy

[lovemesideways]

What factors come into your decision about what toy to buy?

For me its probably, Durability: How long will it last with 2 labradors playing tug.

Noise: Insane squeaky toys don't often get purchased cause they're so annoying

Material: What its made of, whether or not Riddick will try and eat it.

Oh and price of course. I'm not gonna spend $20 on something that will last 5 minutes.

What do you guys look for?

[Ravyk]

My dogs are relatively amused with just tennis balls both being ball crazy and all! When it comes to other toys, I generally avoid pet stores as they are always over priced.

Soft toys are bought from the op-shop and generally last a life of 3-12 months, depending on how much the dogs love them. The stuffing invariably gets destuffed all over the lounge once the holes are big enough. We do have a teddy bear floating around that is faceless.

Squeaky toys, I buy good quality ones as the dogs will destroy cheap ones. I currently have a rubber duck [like the rubber chickens] and a giant tiger striped squeaky bone. The dogs don't always play with them, but are generally in the vicinity of where we walk, under a rug or towel just waiting for us to step on them and pierce our ears with a loud squeak!

[poodlefan]

Plush, makes noise, can be thrown.

[W Sibs]

Plush, makes noise, can be thrown.

Same.

[poodlefan]

Plush, makes noise, can be thrown.

Same.

The current favourites with my tribe are the ones with a rattle in them.

[Golden Rules]

Plush is no good here, gets destuffed in record time.

I love the Aussie Dog toys as they are so tough.

[W Sibs]

Plush, makes noise, can be thrown.

Same.

The current favourites with my tribe are the ones with a rattle in them.

The latest craze here is this cat toys. It's a snail that when you pull a string, it shakes and moves. Emmy brings it over to me so I can pull the rope, so she walks around the house with this stuff snail shaking in her mouth Charlie likes chasing it.. it's slow and he is slow.. so love to chase it in his own speed

[Guest belgian.blue]

I buy my dogs soft toys from the secondhand stores. Five for $1 and they have a massive selection.

So go for no internal beads, small eyes that can be chewed off, ribbon/cord.

My two are pretty calm with toys, Badger just chews when he's left alone with a toy.

[Genabee]

I like them to look pretty... and to be different to what she already has. I don't see the point in buying several versions of the same thing. My Mum and Mother in Law often send toys over for her, so there are a few of the same thing... but not due to me buying them!

I also try to look for things with different textures... I am trying to find something with a zip on it, as she always tries to eat the zippers on my pants!!!

[Maddy]

We do have a teddy bear floating around that is faceless.

Kiff has a faceless bunny- the head has been emptied of stuffing so it just sort of.. hangs there, looking a little over-loved (and sticky too, for some reason, despite regular washings )

For toys for the other hound, it has to squeak and be reasonably hard to destuff. A cheaper toy we got her literally lasted less than five minutes- she ripped the stomach of it open, took out the squeaker, chewed it up to break it, ripped out a handful of stuffing for good measure and then left the whole mess on the deck- all in the time it took me to go back inside and quickly give something to the other hound

Recently ordered the Pentapull from VetnPet so hopefully that'll last a little longer.

[HeavyPaws]

I go for unique ones.

Moon has {all squeaky} lobster, macaw, giant snail, raccoon and a tree trunk with toy squirrels in it.

She goes nuts over Mr Bee, a giant bee with googly eyes that makes a loud buzzing sound. As soon as Mr Bee comes out of the hall closet, she prances like a Spanish pony and barks. Then she snatches him and runs around the house leaping on things; table tops, kitchen bench, bed, couch...

That is why Mr Bee is in the hall closet

[fainty_girl]

Toys that are durable, affordable, chewable and free of stuffing. If it squeaks then I know the dogs will love it even more.

[halfthewords]

Our dogs have an endless amount of toys. They're strewn all through the house. Our friends must think we're nuts. ;)

Carl has a collection of toys that are 'his' and that he won't let Jag play with--includes 1 plush monkey, a plush kangaroo, and some other things. He retrieves them by name.

I only buy things from Vinnies and cheap opshops. Mini tennis balls in packs of 3, soft toys already missing eyes/noses (Carl goes for the eyes first, then he just gnaws it), tug rope toys, things that squeak... We've only had one 'death' in the toy collection. Unfortunately my mum is forever stitching up Carl's favourite monkey because he pulls the fluff out of the same arm every few days.

[Bjelkier]

Durable and makes a good noise

[~Anne~]

Durability, plush and no small parts that can come off and cause choking.

[Maddy]

Recently ordered the Pentapull from VetnPet so hopefully that'll last a little longer.

This actually arrived about an hour after I posted the above and so far, it looks like a fail.

It's certainly durable and it'll last a lifetime but that's only because Sally won't go near it ;) The fabric is like the same material they use for seatbelts and for a dog who loves the soft, fluffy, squeaky toys, this obviously has no appeal. Back to the drawing board, I guess.

[rastus_froggy]

HA I like the look of those toys, I think I will invest in some.

What I look for in toys

for Chevy: frisbees that are super tough and don't crack - but are not made of material, he doesn't like them. Slightly deflated basket balls, just enough so that he can hold onto it. He is good and does not chew basketballs up or even put holes in them, but when Froggy steals them all she wants to do is put a hole in it.

for Frog: anything soft, anything hard, anything that she can try to destroy - ANYTHING can become a toy / training tool with her, she will offer any behaviour you ask for and many more that you have not asked for just so that you will give her a catalogue!! (or any piece of paper)

for Stimpy: um, what's a toy??? are you trying to tell me that there are things in the world other than my mum???

We were thinking of getting a staffy ball for Chevy so that Frog can't destroy it, so I borrowed Teebs' and it's a no go, as the other thing that we have to look at when getting toys for Chevy is the noise he makes when playing with certain toys, he gets the loudest staffy talk going on when he plays with it, it nearly sounds like someone is torturing him at times. It's the same when he plays with coconuts, he loves playing with them, pushing them round with his nose and would do it for hours but someone would end up putting in a noise complaint for sure.

[lovemesideways]

I go for unique ones.

Moon has {all squeaky} lobster, macaw, giant snail, raccoon and a tree trunk with toy squirrels in it.

She goes nuts over Mr Bee, a giant bee with googly eyes that makes a loud buzzing sound. As soon as Mr Bee comes out of the hall closet, she prances like a Spanish pony and barks. Then she snatches him and runs around the house leaping on things; table tops, kitchen bench, bed, couch...

That is why Mr Bee is in the hall closet

Poor Mr Bee.

[Genabee]

I go for unique ones.

Moon has {all squeaky} lobster, macaw, giant snail, raccoon and a tree trunk with toy squirrels in it.

She goes nuts over Mr Bee, a giant bee with googly eyes that makes a loud buzzing sound. As soon as Mr Bee comes out of the hall closet, she prances like a Spanish pony and barks. Then she snatches him and runs around the house leaping on things; table tops, kitchen bench, bed, couch...

That is why Mr Bee is in the hall closet

:thumbsup: :eek:

[Narcissa]

Haha HeavyPaws, I've got Hide-A-Squirrel coming too!

As for OP's question, it really depends on the dog. Maxey is neither food motivated (seriously, throw him a hamburger and he'd look away), or a destroyer (tears up plush and stuffing in minutes), so Kongs, Boredom Busters, i-Cubes, Nylabones, are all out. He gets bored real quick with plush toys with no squeaker too. Ignores rope toys or stiff rubber toys.

He must have toys with sound - so squeaky plush, especially those with a wiry texture are his favourites. Also squeaky stuffing -ree toys that resemble roadkill (Skinneeez - great for those dogs who love tugging and destroy their toys in minutes), cat Mylar balls for the crinkly sound, Kong Wubba for cats. He also has a penchant for balls so Ho-lee ones are great(soft texture, great bounce, easy to grip with tiny mouths), Air Kong squeaky ones. He also loves digging under covers to find a toy so we're getting him Egg Babies (squeaky eggs hidden in animal's belly) and yes, Hide-A-Squirrel. I think I may go look for this Mr. Bee...

For dogs who are food motivated and love challenges (or you need to keep them preocuppied), interactive puzzle toys are great, like those from Nina Ottosson: