There are an incredible number of options when it comes to dog toys. Just like anything that involves a choice, making an educated one is your best bet. An educated choice would ensure that your pup gets a great toy, and derives maximum satisfaction from playing with it. The right toy has a lot of benefits for your pup. Some of these benefits include keeping her active throughout the day, improving bonding between you and your pup (in the case of tug toys and fetch toys), or simply keeping your pup happy. Your local Petland has a wide variety of toys to help you find the perfect toy for your pet!
Here are 5 tips to help with choosing the best toys for your pup:
- Personal Preference
In this case, this isn’t your personal preference, it’s your pooch’s. The perfect toy has to suit your pup’s personality. Dogs have a natural playing and chewing instinct, which of course, varies by breed. You might have to experiment with a variety of toys to see which of them your dog prefers the most. For instance, Susie might be more inclined to fetch toys or tug toys, or even chewing toys. Once you note her favorite, you know what toys to buy more of going forward.
- Age
The type of toys that you get your pup should be appropriate for her age. A toy for a 5-week old puppy should be plush or soft or snuggly. For a pup between three to nine months, you should consider relatively soft chew toys, because she would be teething. So, a good selection of chew toys would keep her away from the center rug or your sneakers. Past the teething phase, you can start to explore harder rubber toys as well as balls or rope pulls since they now have the jaw strength and energy to support that. This doesn’t mean you should totally eliminate softer toys, a mix of both types is a great idea.
- Size
Here the breed plays a major role. For instance, a German Shepherd would chew more harshly compared to a chihuahua. Therefore, if Susie is a German Shepherd, you would need a harder and sizable toy that wouldn’t break or get stuck in her teeth. A toy that is too soft could break into pieces and cause a choking hazard, same with one that is too small. Rule of thumb, if it’s small enough to fit in your dog’s rear molars, it fits the bill of a choking hazard.
- Variety
Overall development is essential, and this is why just one toy type isn’t ideal. Although your pup might have a favorite, say, a chewing toy, she really wouldn’t mind others. For bonding time, a nice tug toy would be ideal or even ball toys to play fetch. This variety would help keep your dog active, occupied, and entertained. Win-win for you and Susie!
- Safety
While this has been lightly touched on in the third point, it is still worthy of emphasis. In addition to getting the appropriate toy size, toy texture is an important point too.A hard toy for soft, developing dentition does more harm than good. Safety is essential when getting your pup a toy, so, ensure that the toys are perfectly suited to age and breed. Finally, keep a close eye on your pup, if you notice a toy wearing out, it might be time to replace it.
