We hope you enjoy our discussions on pet toys that are just fun for our furry and feathered friends. While fun is a primary criteria for any toy, we may at times venture into what might be considered ‘not so fun’ as in a subject like training. But fun can be used as the motivator in subjects like that, so while we can make the occasional slight detour we can always come back to the fun.
About Pete
I have had pets for almost all of my life, either dogs or cats and usually both. I never really thought of myself as an animal person until I met my wife who is most definitely an animal person. From the first days we were together we have always been a multiple pet family and I discovered that, yes, I indeed am an animal person. My mind and heart changes in demeanor just about anytime I see an animal. OK, I am partial to dogs, but truth be told any animal can do that for me.
We recently brought 2 new pups into our family and I have come to see how they love toys but they get a special kick out of the ones that make noise. I’ve found that not only does it give them an added feature for the toy but you can see their personality a little more, or differently, when they play with a toy that makes a sound.
Why a Silly Site like this?
Because of the bond we have with our pets and the joy we see in them and the added joy of playing with a toy that has that certain little extra sound or bounce or twirl. We’d love to share our experiences and hear of others.
Let’s Talk Pet Toys
Our site is intended as a place to share experiences and ideas in using Pet Toys.
What have you, or your pet, found to be the most enjoyable pet toy? The Squeakers? The Honkers? The Wheezers? The Whistlers? The Pullers/Tuggers? The Bouncers? How does your pet respond to these toys, what is the benefit for you and/or your pet?
Of course not all pet toys are “agreeable” to the owner, or the pet, and we certainly want to discuss those as well.
We hope this site gives you ideas and suggestions that will enhance you and your pets relationship.
In contrast to the indestructible squeaky dog toys we have written about in another blog here what I would like to talk about is its dog toy counterpart, plush and squeaky dog toys. Just as there are different dogs with so many different tempermants there are as many types of dog toys that they love to play with. I have written before about my more voracious dogs, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi named Boutros and my current big boy a Schipperke-Kintamani dog named Thumper. Ok,Ok, Corgis and Schipperkes aren’t exactly big dogs, but they are bigger than my smaller dogs. Can we say ‘relativity’? Over the past 20 year I have had some outstanding smaller dogs though including 3 Shitzus, a Lhasa Apso and my current 2, a Yorki Poo named Bumble and a Shorkie named Doozie. While Bumble is not really a toy player, she is totally food and affection driven, I will draw on my experience with Doozie and my earlier dogs to share here on the differing features of these toys and how they use and enjoy them.
The Plush
There are varying degrees of plush and dogs will like each depending on their personality. With some dogs, like my shitzus, I have found the very plush – plush ones to be their favorites. When in doubt Biscuit my tan Shitzu would always run around and look for her plush bone. She would grab it and hold it to the floor and make it squeak and then run around and eventually up to me where she would let me take it out of her mouth, then she went into ‘ready’ mode for the toss. And when dad was tired she was happy to go and lie with it and make it squeak until she would finally crash. It’s obvious that the plushier a toy is the dirtier it can get, so the occasional washing was required. We often throw some plush toys in the washing machine when we do a load of dog beds. Once we found this toy online we did end up buying multiple of the same one because when you have multiple dogs that can go in and out of a house they can get lost.
Plush comes in various degrees. Some are almost felt like. The next would be a fuzz that imitates an animals coat. Next I would describe as the actual plush and these can come in varying levels of length and softness but they all remind me in a way of a shorter and softer kind of shag carpet. Do they even make shag carpet anymore, or did I just date myself? Rut Roh.
The Squeak
My shorkie, The Doozer, loves some toys that are shaped like a bone but have a duck and a pig weaved on them, and a unique noisemaker that sounds like a honk, and are of course known as the ‘Honkin Duck’ & the ‘Honkin Pig’ in our house. These are of a more durable cloth but have a material on the outside that is kind of threaded plush. The Doozer loves to get a hold of one of these, especailly when the Thumper isn’t around and we will play fetch with them forever, chasing after it, making it honk, and bringing it back to dad. Looking at the pictures below it would seem that she may prefer pork over poultry.
The Honkin’ PigThe Honkin’ Duck
The Purpose
Other toys that the Doozer loves are totally because of the Yorkshire Terrier in her. That makes her a ratter. We have a ‘no-stuff’ cloth toy that looks like a racoon but we call it ‘the squirrel’ and it has soft-plush material on its outside to simulate fur. Being a no stuff toy I suspect makes her think she might have something dead in her mouth. Then we have the 4ft loose Orange dragon with the crinkle paper inside of it and a big honking noise maker in the head. She absolutely loves to get a hold of either of those, run thru the house with it then bring it to her spot and proceed to shake her head, literally trying to shake the living daylights out of them. I find it fascinating to watch knowing what she is trying to do. The beauty of the no stuff toys is just that, they are not stuffed with anything and when the hole or tear does arise in these there will not be the ensuing mess and the toy basically retains it’s original shape.
The Squirrel
On a side note, there is a really informative show that was produced by the BBC with the actor Martin Clunes called ‘Martin Clunes: A Man and His Dogs’ (available on Netflix). In it he describes dogs ancestry from wolves, how different dogs have different roles in a pack, and it has a great scene where terriers go into a barn to clear the rats. If you’re squeamish on watching one animal kill another you can fast forward thru that, but that has given me a better appreciation of my Doozer.
How to play with them
All of our plush dog toys are used for fetch or some form of gentle toss or tugger, usually indoors.
Playing tugger with them usually ends up with that tell tale sound of a thread tearing which almost always begins the demise and destuffing of the poor soft thing. Corgis are a herding dog. The way they herd is by chasing the animal and nipping at the back of its legs to make it move. Corgis are a dog that naturally work with their mouth, it’s part of their job. Giving a Plush toy to a dog like our corgi Boutros was futile and short lived, although there was a look of true joy on his face when he was lying there all done and surrounded by the stuffing. If you have a mixed set of dogs as we do, the devourer will eventually find a poor unsuspecting plush squeaky toy, and you can’t get mad at him when you find him surrounded by is handiwork, it is just what he does.
Picking a toy
Whenever picking a toy for a dog it is helpful to know the breed or major breed if a mixed breed dog. Knowing the traits of a dog breed like herding or ratting or guarding or hunting will help in targeting the best possible toy for them, especially since they are not always the cheapest. I can’t count the number of times I have gone into a pet store to buy my dogs a specific toy and found myself saying, “Oh they’d like that, and that, oh that looks cool….” and then I am shocked when the cashier tells me how much it will all cost. And then I rationalize it with “But they’re like my kids” to make myself feel better. This is certainly not the dogs fault, but it is a pit I try to avoid stepping in nowadays.
Please, feel free to leave comments or stories below of plush and squeaky dog toys that are, or have been, in yours and your pets life
Over my life I have had many dogs and even more dog toys. There have been bags and baskets full of all kinds of toys in various rooms of my house for my four legged buddies. I don’t even want to think about the amount of money I’ve spent on that part of my life. But I do it because I love them, so to be honest, I don’t really care. What does drive me mildly mad is when I bring home a toy for them and within 30 minutes I find it’s innards spread around the floor of any or every room in my house. And this is what has put me on the quest for Indestrucible Squeaky Toys for Dogs.
Of course this issue will vary based on breed, temperament and tenacity. I have had little dogs that had the ability to disintegrate a toy in what seemed seconds after it found their mouth. And then I’ve known large dogs to almost nurse a toy like they’ll never let it leave them. You probably don’t want to put your hand near their mouth while they’re doing that, but those dogs do exist.
The best example I had of a dog that would destroy a squeaky toy was a Pembroke Welsh Corgi we had. He was a gorgeous and brilliant little man with a deep-seated drive to extricate whatever it was that made a toy squeak. Corgis are a hearding breed so I am not sure what in him gave him this drive, but if a toy made a noise on average it would keep its innards for around 20 minutes, and that was for a well built toy. But often it would be tossed to him and well within 5 minutes the stuffing was flying across the floor and the squeaker was gone or being masticated, and however much I paid for that toy may as well have been thrown out the window. But the look of happiness and accomplishment on that little guys face was priceless.
There is something about a dog toy that makes a noise that adds that certain extra that a dog loves. Does it make them think it is alive? Is it just the added sensory stimulus? I don’t know. I do know that one of my current pups, Mr Thumper, loves to fetch, and when I give his ball a squeeze and it lets out that squeal he goes into overdrive and can’t wait to catch it.
And on the other side, my Shorkie , The Dooz, loves a cat toy that looks like a mouse and makes a little high pitched squeal or whistle when you shake it and that drives her nuts. When she brings it back after I’ve thrown it she is shaking it like the ratter that a Terrier is. The stimulation of these toy sounds is a feature that just sends my dogs into their happy place.
Below are some topics for discussion on Indestructible Squeaky Dog toys, and we look forward to hearing everyone’s comments.
Expectations – How long should one last?
Indestructible, in perpetuity, forever & ever, OK that might be a bit much to ask for. But is a year or 2 or 3 or more too much to expect? I think not. There are toys that we’ve had that indeed have lasted years, but they have not necessarily been the most popular, and hence their lifespan. Or they were the most popular, but have just lost favor. Not all good things last forever. What squeaker toys have lasted longest for your dog?
Materials – Cloth, Rubber, Rope
There are toys that are considered indestructible, but not that many that produce a noise. Below are some of the materials, and whether we’ve seen them with a squeaker.
Rubber – Yes
Cloth – Yes –
Rope – Yes
Nylon – No
The Honkin Pig – made of a highly durable cloth – keeps on Honkin’ See link to Outward Hound Invincibles belowThe Kong Bone- A Squeaking Rubber toy that is a favorite in my house
Types of Toys – Training, Interactive, Amusement
If we look at the types of toys as described in the AKC page AKC Types of Dog Toys we can categorize them as :
Training
Treat Dispenser
Interactive
Self Amusement
Comfort
Training is geared more for the puppy and towards instructing them on right from wrong. These could be a nylon bone or any other toy you’ve bought them that is not your shoes or furniture. Squeakers will most often be found in the Interactive, Self Amusement and Comfort category. Interactive is my personal favorite as it is meant to develop the relationship between us.
Self amusement and comfort are almost built in if your dog loves a squeaker. Warning: A dog that is overly self amused with a squeaking toy can quickly become maddening to their owner depending on the sound and the owners temperament. Comfort is usually the category that disintegrates the quickest with a proficient toy destroyer. The plush softness of a toy may have a great appeal but it seems to be the largest attractant for disemboweling
Types of Play – Chew, Fetch or Tug?
I love interactive play with my dogs. Heck, why did I get them if it wasn’t to interact with them. My dog Thumper, a Schipperke-Kintamani mix, loves to play fetch. He gets a kind of nutty look on his face when I pick up his ball that squeaks and he watches with total focus and anticipation as to where it will be thrown. I have taught him 3 phrases when we do this.
Runner : Means it is going to be thrown and he will be running after it.
Bouncer: Means I’m throwing it to the ground hard enough to give it a high bounce
Low Bounce : Means it will bounce but not as hard as a Bouncer and he will normally catch it in the air close to me.
Next I plan to teach him those 3 by the # of squeaks I give the ball, so then interaction could morph into training.
Squeaking Rubber Ball
What types of play do you have with your dog and a squeaker toy?
