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Toys for a dog that likes to rip things apart.


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Although Aed adores fetch and tug and extracting bits of hot dog out of kongs, he also loves to settle down and destroy something. At the moment that's usually cardboard boxes that I give him, but they make a mess and don't last very long against his teeth. There are bones, of course, but he gets so obsessed with those that as soon as he gets one he settles down with it and doesn't stop chewing it until it's totally picked clean. So I'm basically looking for something as good as bones, but not bones. Something I can get a whole bunch of is also ideal - every once in a while he gets a stuffed toy to destroy, but that has to be monitored because otherwise he'll eat it. None of the regular dog chews I can find at the pet store last against his jaw anymore.

 

If there's been a thread about this already by all means point me to it. I couldn't find anything but I'm sure it's been discussed at some point.

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If, perchance, I have given Torque a stuffie toy, and I am not constantly interacting with him (I get about a 5-10 second grace period), he puts the one part of the toy between his front paws and deliberately starts pulling the other end. Not a quick tug-type of play, but a slow and strong pull that results in ripping the seams apart.

 

The old stand-by is a Kong filled with something frozen (which I know has been suggested here many times). I think some of the westpaw designs are pretty chew proof. I have a friend with Rotties who found some 'toys' that zoos use for bears and tigers. I have a feeling that they are quite large because their style of play is more of a tackle and mouthing the toy. I went to a drug detection dog demo once and a youngish (14 month old) dog-in-training was chewing on something. After the demo, I asked the handler what she was chewing on. They use hoses meant for sand-blast machines. Apparently you can buy it by the foot at a Lowes or Home Depot. [Note: I tried a piece of regular hose for Torque. He destroyed it.]

 

Interestingly, Torque doesn't indiscriminately chew on things. He just has the desire to pull apart stuffie toys.

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It is possible to train the dog to not destroy soft toys. When he starts to dyestuff a toy, simply give him a different toy such as a kong (stuffed with something tasty) do this every time and he should get the 'hint' that whenever he wants to chew hard, he is allowed to do so with the kong

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Gabe really loves Benebones and they last for a while. I usually order a few at a time from Amazon, they're like 10 bucks each, and he will chew on them for sometimes 45min-1 hr at a time. I think the Roasted Chicken is his favorite flavor. When it's time for a new one I usually present a few to him, and let him pick out the one he wants.

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We have a Westpaw chew toy that's held up well so far. If one does get destroyed, they'll replace it once for free. We also have a bully ring that's held up surprisingly well to the amount of chewing it gets. My friend who gave it to Livi says the rings last longer than the sticks in her experience. We also have an elk antler that she really likes sometimes and then ignores for days. I've seen toys made out of pieces of firehose -- those seem like they'd be sturdy.

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Cricket is a destroyer of toys. So, I've been trying to find things that will keep her occupied but don't cost me $10 or $20 a week!

 

I don't know the forum consensus about Nylabones, but I find that Cricket loves to chomp on the ends of those. They last a really long time and she doesn't seem to be able to destroy them, except for small flakes that come off here and there. Softer for her teeth than normal bones, but I think they do a pretty good job of buffing the teeth, too.

 

For tug of war and fetch, I've found those Bumi toys last a very long time. They're an S-shaped toy made of something rubbery and soft. I have played many hours of tug and fetch with one, and Cricket is a DEMON of a terrier mix who will let me pick her up and swing her when she's playing tug. She doesn't seem to be able to rip it or bite pieces off it, though she's tried.

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My dogs had no interest in nylabones- I got a few of them at one time (I know, I know, don't do that) and they had no interest when I presented them one by one. Anything kong-like gets screamed for though.

 

I will occasionally get a cheap dog stuffie and allow the Dog, Destroyer of Toys to shred it. They're about four dollars each from the pound shop (dollar store?).

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Maid was a really hard chewer, and she chewed a lot. The toughest stuffed toys were toast in 5 minutes. The only things that had both sufficient durability and appeal for her were Kong balls and rings. And marrow bones. Maid was unable to destroy the Kong toys - not for lack of trying - and they squeak, but they have to be bitten hard to squeak, also there is no squeaker that can fall out and get eaten.

 

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Both the ring and the ball come in 3 different sizes. The medium ball is a bit bigger than a tennis ball. Those were her favorite ones, but when they all escaped under the bad she would go for the large one or the ring. If you buy them from Amazon they are cheaper, but color is randomly selected. If you buy them in a pet supplies place they're more expensive, but you can choose the color you want, if that's important to you.

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I started giving Kieran rubbery plastic toys (Toys R' Us brand?). They had rope attached to them though, so of course he made it a mission to dispose of the rope. Now that it's gone, he'll only play with it if someone picks it out for him first. On the plus side, it hasn't been destroyed. They have a donut and bone version.

 

He really likes that soft fleece fabric. Even my stuffed animals are fair game if he sees that on them, so I have to hide them. When he gets one of those types of toys, he immediately feels for the squeaker and then tries to rip it out and destuff. I've stopped buying stuffed toys for him because I always end up with "snow" on the floor.

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Hmm. While the various indestructible/chew toys are all great, I'm more so looking for something that he can destroy, it will just take him more than five minutes. He doesn't enjoy just chewing for the sake of chewing. He likes things he can make progress at.

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The trouble with destructible toys is that there is a danger of the dog ingesting the pieces. Which kinda leaves you with chewies of one sort or another. Bully sticks are pretty tough, but they smell almost as bad as hooves. Fresh marrow bones are good. Like 4" or 5" legbone sections. It takes a lot of work to winkle all the marrow out. If you can get the butcher to cut them in sections like that, they're good. I found that if I gave my dogs knuckle-bones they would buzz them down to small pieces in short order, and as often as not, get the runs from all the shrapnel. And if your dog is a really hard chewer or has not-so-really hard teeth they can break teeth on both kinds. Ditto antlers.

 

We used to give the tigers at Wildlife Waystation beer kegs and bowling balls. They had a ball smacking them around and biting them. But then one tiger ended up with a broken tooth. After that they had to be content with horse bones.

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You could get the Nylabones labeled for teething puppies. They're softer than the regular kind and he would be able to 'make progress' on them. Obviously with any destructible toy, you would have to watch him to see if he is ingesting large pieces. Stuffed, frozen kongs are a favorite here too.

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The bully ring we have doesn't smell, that I've noticed. Not sure what the difference might be, but we've had it since before Thanksgiving and despite a lot of chewing it's still in decent shape.

 

Once I got Livi a Nylabone natural healthy edible chew thing. She loved it, and it lasted for a couple hours of seriously dedicated chewing broken up into a few sessions. It wasn't cheap, though, and I wouldn't have bought it if I'd realized it would be gone THAT quickly. It did appear to be very satisfying, though.

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If you get bully sticks, you need to know what you are getting. The cheap ones are not rinsed out inside the urethra, so they have old stale cattle urine in them. But over treated isn't good either because they can be treated with chemicals that are better not eaten..

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They both shred and eat it- it's raw and crunchy and shreddable. But tossing it about the place, gnawing etc. seem to provide them with much entertainment. Apparently being able to throw something over your head is the most exciting thing ever. I'm just waiting for the day one of them hits the other with it.

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I found his toy at a house I was dog sitting, and unfortunately I don't know what it's called. But I'm going to start looking for it. It basically was a rubber bone shaped toy, covered in rubber fingers about an inch long. The fingers were closely spaced, but you could easily smush peanut butter all the way in the crevices. It was AWESOME. The dogs would have to manipulate it more than just a bone, it took a lot of effort to get all the peanut butter out.

 

Keeper loves nylabones.

 

I agree with everyone, other than the holee-roller, I don't know any toys that can be safely destuffed without the dogs ingesting pieces or making a mess.

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We have a couple Nylabones that Gabe is interested in maybe once a month. The Benebones are similar, but I think they must taste better, because he LOVES them.

 

I'm really interested in trying a sweet potato with him. Although it might need to wait until we have more room. It's bad enough when he's throwing soft toys and tennis balls around the house...I don't think my glass TV stand will hold up to a sweet potato hitting it too well :P

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I give Star the Big Boyz Sweet Potato Chews, but they don't last too long. To those who are mentioning sweet potatoes, are you giving a whole fresh one? Do you worry about too much Vit A?

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