Toys
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Teach your dog to be nice with their toys!!! If they lay down to "tear" into a toy, take it away and say "Be NICE"! Give them back the toy in 1-2 minutes. You teach your kids to play nice with their toys, do the same with your pet. If you ALLOW destructive behavior it will eventually come to YOUR things too! |
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A BORED DOG is DESTRUCTIVE dog! Make your pet THINK!! Teach tricks, do little things around the house to make them think. Do a lot of Sit/Down stays and work into you leaving the room. Use the Stay when you are on the phone or eating dinner. Teach them to "Find it" (you hide something (start with a treat) and they have to "find it"). Books on "Tracking" are helpful with this one. |
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Give each toy its own, unique name. Then teach your dog to find the specific toy. If you give things a name like Tennis ball, Frisbee, Stick, your pet will learn a real vocabulary. |
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Most people think dogs need a lot of exercise to keep them from being bored. WRONG! Yes, dogs need exercise, so do we humans. But all you are doing is building an athlete. You start out running them for an hour to tire them out. Soon that will not do it so you go to 11/2 hr. Before long you are running your dog for 4 hrs and they come home and eat your sofa. You need to tire them out by having them concentrate. You know how you sit down and read a book, and after awhile you’re down to one eye and before long you are taking a nap! WHY???? Because you are concentrating! Using your brain - not running around building up muscles, which after you put your feet up for an hour you are ready to go again! Teach your dog to "read" by having them concentrate on listening to you and what you need them to do for you. Now when you are gone your pet is getting caught up on their Z's ready for you to come home and "NEED" them again. |
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Dogs need to find their "NICHE". Duties they need to do for you. They NEED to feel like a constructive member in the "Pack". |
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YOU are in charge of ALL your pet’s toys!!! Do not let them have millions of toys all over the house. Pick them all up and put them in a box, in a closet, so YOU have the control of the toy box. If your pet’s toys are all over the house your pet will feel the WHOLE house is theirs and may start having an "attitude" towards you and or their toys. |
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The more active your dog is the more you need to rotate the toys (only 2 toys out at a time) to keep them interesting to your dog. Teach your dog to play with the toys with or without you. If you have 2 dogs, teach them how to have fun together. Tug-O-War is fine between 2 dogs, but NOT with people. Tug-O-War between a dog and a person teaches the dog to assert themselves against the person to get what they want. |
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My dogs never get rawhide chews for entertainment. But I DO give them: raw carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and other vegetables and fruits |
"Kong” toys (www.kongcompany.com): The Kong is a hard, all rubber toy that is shaped like a beehive and is hollow in the middle. For your pet’s entertainment you can put peanut butter around the inside rim (no more than 1 teaspoon). Make it harder for them by putting a sprig of broccoli in at the same time. Biscuits, carrots, and whatever other healthy stuff you can think of work well too. Use the "Kong" as a "Good-bye toy". A toy you use only when you are leaving to redirect them off of you being gone. When you come back, pick it up and save it until next time you leave. This makes your leaving a pleasure because they get something special.
Plastic gallon milk jug. Remove the cap, rinse it out and let Rover play away. Tie some together in a trail. Keep an eye on it, if your dog starts tearing pieces out, take it away immediately so they do not swallow a chunk and now you have a problem. 2 Liter plastic pop jugs work too (remember to remove the caps!). Pay attention.
A trailer tire (without the rim) for a large dog. Mastiffs come to mind here.
Logs with the bark stripped off. Tie a rope to it, puts some knots in it so they can drag it around.
Cow Hoofs. Just the plain, not smoked. As long as your pet chews these nicely and do not take chunks out, they are fine. These are best for puppies and small to medium dogs. Watch them closely!! Make sure the hoof is not small enough to slide into the back of your dog’s throat and choke them!!
Old basketballs and volleyballs. Whether they hold air or not, they are super toys for large or small dogs. Herding breeds especially love these.
Boomer ball. This is the hardiest ball for that destructive personality. It is a hard plastic that can endure anything short of a Semi-truck running over it. They come in many colors and sizes (small, medium, and large). You can find these at most pet supply stores.
Take your old blue jeans and cut the legs off. Roll, twist, braid them, tie knots in them and create a nice fetch toy. For puppies, soak them in water and freeze them. These make nice teething ropes that cool their sore mouths from all the teeth going and coming.
Raw Butcher Bones. Do NOT cook these. You want the big knuckle or shank bones. Give these ONLY to your dog if they do not turn into a Dr. Jeckyl (start growling, protecting it, dares you to take it or walk by it) over them. Give the bone in a controlled area so they can not go bury it where it will get diseased and contaminated. Do not cook any bone that you give to your dog. Cooking causes bones to becomes dry and brittle and have a greater chance of doing damage to your dog (creating a "log jam" at the end of their rectum or having a jagged edge on a piece of bone and cutting the throat or rectum on the way down and out). If you choose to use a raw butcher bone (it is great for keeping their teeth clean, the nutrients they get from it are great, they have a great time playing with it) they will have to be "let out" to go potty more often for 24 hrs after eating them. The bones are very rich and the average dog gets a bit of the "runs" from them.
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