Toys are one of the most essential pet accessories that can get to fulfill your dog’s life. Dogs need not attend schools or work at the office like humans; hence they have a lot of spare time in their hands. Pet Toys can help them utilize this time by keeping them engaged, relaxed, and disciplined. They also help with mental stimulation.
Many interactive dog toys like ball launchers and tennis balls with different colors are designed to keep your dog engaged while preventing them from developing isolation, boredom, and nuisance. Dog nuisances such as breaking utensils, eating from a dumpster, and tearing your cushions are very common in almost every household. Moreover, providing toys, products, stuffed animals, and puzzles will satiate dogs that “need a job.”
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Why Dog Toys are so important?
Here are some of the benefits of interactive dog toys highlighted by professional groomers, trainers, and animal experts.
It wears them out
Toys can help to wear them out both mentally and physically, and this is good. For dogs that just slouch around the house, playing with interactive dog toys can actually help for physical and mental stimulation. A tired dog will eat and sleep well.
It helps get adjusted
Dogs are social beings hence they constantly need human company. Playing with toys such as toys for fetch can keep them occupied most of the time. This can help to habituate them to an engaging lifestyle where they don’t need the human’s company.
It’s fun!
Puppies love to chew toys. They constantly bite on stuff when they’re teething. Giving them toxin-free toys can help with teething along with keeping them engaged. Consider buying durable rubber toys or chew toys for them.
It helps their learning
Many dog breeds have a problem-solving mindset and will find favorite toys and puzzles very satisfying and engaging. Enrichment toys can enhance your dog’s ability to learn, helping them develop new skills. Many dog trainers choose to train pets using a different set of toys.
It helps them to relax
Playing is a rewarding experience that can keep them relaxed and content. Many dog toys are designed to develop patience in dogs and to keep stress levels at bay.
It prevents nuisance
Nuisance is common with many dogs that are left unattended. If you want to minimize excessive barking, chewing on stuff, breaking of utensils, then you should get them an engaging and entertaining toy.
It will help to bring dogs and humans closer
Toys can become an agent to make people and animals bond stronger. You can use a different set of dog toys to play along like throwing a Frisbee, retrieving an ultra ball or stick. The options are endless.
Top 10 Toys to Buy for your Dog
We talked about the benefits of getting a pet toy for your dog, now let’s talk about different types of dog toys that are specially designed for them.
Balls
Balls or round objects feature sprinting activities that are the favorite time-pass for most canines. Because of their curious and playful nature, your furry friends love to interact with balls. You will find many dogs chewing on ultra-balls, pushing them with their paws, and chasing them in the park.
When choosing a ball, ensure to choose a soft plush ball if your dog is young and teething. A tennis ball has a slightly harder exterior which suits adult and older dogs. Be careful about buying them large-sized balls because they might find difficulty playing with them.
Rope Toys
Dogs love to bite on one end of a toy while the other is being pulled away. These types of interactive toys feature ropes where the pet owner will grab onto one end and the dog will bite onto another. You can hold the other end of the toy and begin a tug of war. Dogs love these kinds of toys because they suit their natural way of playing.
Rope toys are generally safe for the right types of chewers. However, you must be extra attentive when your dog starts pulling out the strands of the rope toys. It’s time to tuck them away or replace them.
Stuffed Toys
Stuffed pet toys are suitable for dogs of any age. They are mostly provided to young pups to keep them engaged. These toys are soft enough to protect your dog’s mouth and help in teething. Many dogs enjoy dry humping the stuffed toys, which is completely Ok until it doesn’t hurt them.
Many large-sized breeds often chew into the stuffed toys and pull out the feathers. You should be extra careful about providing aggressive chewer dogs with stuffed toys. Labrador, Retriever, Pit Bull, and German shepherd will easily chew into a stuffed toy. You can find stuffed toys in many shapes, sizes, and colors.
Chew Toys
Chew toys are meant to be chewed. They feature toxin-free plastic or natural rubber to ensure your dog doesn’t get contaminated by the toys.
Dogs are aggressive chewers. It is natural for your dog to want to chew which is more intense when they’re teething. Chew toys for dogs ensure that they have something safe to chew. Because of their chewing tendency, they often chew into the cushion, sofa, and mattresses. You can prevent this by providing them with a product to chew on.
Milky chew sticks, rawhide chew, squeaky toys, squeaky squirrels, and chew bones are common chew toys for aggressive chewers. Make sure to buy chew toys with softer textures that are more palatable and easy to chew.
Treat-dispensing Toys
Treat-dispensers are wonders for dogs. Most dogs chew on treat balls not knowing what’s hidden inside. Once they’re able to pierce into, they can find delicious dog treats.
Most treat-dispensing interactive toys are reusable meaning they can be filled and refilled with your dog’s favorite treat. All your dog needs to do is figure out how to use the toy to get to the treat. This type of toy can be engaging and fun for your dog. When you have to step outside the house for a longer duration of time, you can choose to provide them with these toys to ensure hours of fun.
Kong Extreme, Pickle Pocket, Kibble Nibble, and Tug-A-Jug are a few popular types of treat-dispensing toys that you can find on Amazon, West Paw, or Zogoflex.
Puzzle Toys
As the name suggests, puzzle toys are filled with different puzzles that require your dog to use its brain. These can be an interactive and learning experience for your dogs that help for mental stimulation. These are toys that challenge your dog’s brainpower and help stimulate it.
Puzzle dog toys can range from physical toys to electronic games. Most puzzle toys are designed by dog trainers to teach discipline, focus, coordination, and help develop instincts in dogs.
Outward Hound Hide-A-Squirrel, Bob-A-Lot Interactive Dog Toy, Pet Zone IQ Treat Ball, etc. are a few popular puzzle pet toys that you can easily find on Amazon, Zogoflex, and West Paw.
Distraction Toys
Distraction toys are designed to keep your dog distracted when you’re engaged in important work or when you don’t want your dog to step into something.
A Kong Extreme features a special distraction toy designed to keep your dog busy. Once they have chewed into it, they’ll also be rewarded with a treat which will make them keep playing with a Kong.
A Kong Extreme is a durable rubber beehive-shaped toy that is filled with soft food and your dog has to figure out how to get the food out with its tongue. Fill a Kong with canned dog food, plain white yogurt, pumpkin, peanut butter, sweet potato, or any other soft healthy food and freeze it.
Busy-box and Feeder toys are large rubber toys that can be filled with treats.
Comfort Toys
Comfort toys keep your dogs relaxed. That’s the sole purpose of it. Many young pups and dogs find solace in plush toys. They often sleep with it and carry it around. Soft plush toys are good for comfort toys. Many dogs would want to bite into it or swallow it, so make sure you provide a stuffed toy large enough to prevent accidental swallowing. It’s always better to find dishwasher-safe and indestructible dog toys.
Active Toys
Active toys are designed to keep your dog active at all times. They feature different shapes, sizes, and colors to keep your dog engaged. Many active toys require the assistance of pet owners such as Frisbee, a game of tug, and balls. Standard Tennis balls or Chuckit Balls make a great game of fetch. Make sure, they don’t swallow it.
Training Toys
Training dog toys are specially designed to train your dogs at home or outside. They’re mostly designed by professional trainers and groomers.
Most training toys can be assigned to dogs at an early age while others will require you to wait until your dog gets older.
Flirt poles, Tug toys, balls, Kong, ChuckIt, etc. can be great training toys for your pets.
Conclusion
When you get dog toys, make sure that they are generally safe, non-hazardous, and highly interactive dog toys. You wouldn’t want your dog to play with a toy and then leave it for good within a few hours.