Sturdy pet toys?

[YankeeMom]

My youngest sheltie, Emi, LOVES toys. Especially stuffed toys w/ squeakers or the thick ropes. The problem is, she usually has them torn to shreds anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks!

This is the most recent toy she's destroyed. She's had it 3 wks...it's one of the longest she's had a toy. It used to have a rope on the end of it but now she's got that off started ripping out the stuffing



Any suggestions on really sturdy stuffed squeaky toys or am I just going to have to suck it up and keep buying them every week LOL.

[Russ]

Good luck. We have the same problem. All I can suggest is look for the cheapest ones you can find, like stuffed animals at garage sales. If we happen to see them we'll get them pretty cheap. 10 - 25 cents each.

[nancycg56]

The only thing I've found that lasts are those boiled dog bones they sell at Pet Smart or the nyla bones. Zippy works on the nyla bones fashioning them into shanks and strategically placing them right where I walk in bare feet. Everything else is shredded in a few minutes.

[craftypam]

I had dogs who did that too!!! I don't know if I will be able to describe this good enough; but here goes. I bought a toy that had a flexible tube connected into a circle. A squeaker was in the middle and then fur covered the whole thing. When the dog bit it she couldn't get her back teeth to the squeaker because the tubing was in the way. Took her a longer time to get to the squeaker and the toy lasted longer.

Another suggestion. My sil has no children so she has 3-4 dogs at a time and she won't even buy stuffed toys anymore. She gets used stuffed animals. I know there is no squeaker, but it is worth a try.

[imagine]

I remember when we were on a sturdy pet toy search. Our Lab would go through traditional toys in a matter of mins.

We discovered that the Farm and Ranch store had the best sturdy toys for dogs.

Here is what we ended up with.

Jolly ball (Pet smart has this one) it is a ball with a handle but it can't be popped.

Something we call the satellite it is a rubber curved thing looks like a space thing.

Kong - a rubber shaped cone that you can put treats in (our dog like peanut butter in it)

and her very favorite is the legs off of jeans. We cut a leg off of jeans and tie it in a knot. She loves to untie them, carry them and chew on them. They eventually get shredded after a month or two. Then we give her a new one. The price is right on this toy LOL

[Russ]

I remember when we were on a sturdy pet toy search. Our Lab would go through traditional toys in a matter of mins.

We discovered that the Farm and Ranch store had the best sturdy toys for dogs.

Here is what we ended up with.

Jolly ball (Pet smart has this one) it is a ball with a handle but it can't be popped.

We have these. Works great for outside.

and her very favorite is the legs off of jeans. We cut a leg off of jeans and tie it in a knot. She loves to untie them, carry them and chew on them. They eventually get shredded after a month or two. Then we give her a new one. The price is right on this toy LOL

This reminds me and gives me an idea...
We have seat belt material tied in knots and the dogs love that!
I bet you could take an old thinner leather belt and do the same thing!

[YankeeMom]

Hmmm, I like the seatbelt idea! Those suckers are virtually indestructible

I don't like to give the dogs regular stuffed animals (not intended for pets) for a couple of reasons. One, the kids have stuffed animals and I don't want the dogs to be confused on what is theirs to chew and what is not to be chewed. Two, I don't want them to get pieces off and choke (plastic eyeballs, nose, etc).

I'll have to check our Farm & Tractor Supply. I always forget about that store...

[Jenibelle]

Colors | Tough Dog Toys

We have the ball that is full of holes (3rd one pictured at link above) you can stuff a biscuit inside and our dog will play forever until he gets it out. Any of their balls (or critter shapes) that squeak are really durable...but the sound is more annoying than any other squeaker I've heard!

[frugalwarrior2]

We find the one dog can eventually break anything. We use 2L pop bottle w/ a little water -taken outside. Buy stuffed animals at S.A. and just take the eyes and such off immed. but then stuffing is everywhere. She pops the big ball. I just gosafe as poss.,cheap and disposible. It's a personality thing.

[MomsaBasketCase]

Nice dogs!

My biggest dog loves squeaky toys and I finally found a Kong ball with a squeaker inside it. They make 3 sizes that I know of. Molly loves them! The squeaking can get annoying after a while, though LOL I have to take the ball away from her at night. Other Kong toys are great, too like the cone or balls that you can stick treats inside...

Tug ropes are good, too. All 3 of my dogs love those...they'll chew on them alone or play tug with each other.

[frugalfranny]

Beautiful sheltie YM! She is a pretty girl! (wish I could see the other one completely!!)

Have you tried any that are made out of rubber?.......not hard stuff like the Kong but not the real flimsy stuff either........some of those have squeakers. Try the ones that just have the 'valve thing' that does the squeaking........not the flat, round, ball where you can feel it...........then they try to tear it out. Hope this makes sense........you will know them when you see them...........even WM has some......but don't get the real light,soft, rubber.

Oreo had a 'medium' hard bone shape with a squeaker. It is still holding up. The thing with him is that he eats the stuff. I couldn't do the 'rope toys' as he chews on the 'fringe' and eats it!! All 'cloth' toys were out!

[Ceashels]

She is so beautiful.

Cleo does the same with her toys. I'll find her and Lacy working a small hole and literally pulling the stuffing out with their teeth onto my green carpet. We try to save the squeakies before she punctures them.

Our girls love to play tug so I've taken old shirts, socks or towels and cut them into strips for braiding and make stronger ropes for them to play tug with. I wonder if you could sew pockets into something like that for a small squeaky for her.

It might also be worth making your own shapes with denim and double sew each seam. The seam allowance can be on the outside (it will simply fray over time) and the denim may be enough that they can't puncture easily. Squeakies can be purchased or reused from old toys.

[YankeeMom]

Yay! Our Tractor Supply store had the toys Jenibelle mentioned her her post. We got her the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/JW-Pet-Company-Ruffians-Assorted/dp/B000HHHCR0/ref=sr_1_7/188-4953928-0333859?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1252956728&sr=8-7?ie=UTF8&tag=toughtoys-20"]Chicken[/ame] . She loves it so far. I predict the head will be the first thing chewed off though

Next I want to get her the [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Kong-Wubba-Dog-Colors-Vary/dp/B000MD57ZI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1270738408&sr=1-5"]Kong squeaky[/ame] they have. It has material on it that looks like seatbelt material lol.

Here is the other puppies in the picture:

Topper, our blue merle


Carmen, our lab (she's kitty sitting, the kitten is in the carrier waiting to go to the vet)

[Mom2-3]

Our dog destroys all dog toys! Ugh. I bought one of those bones that is supposed to keep your dog busy for up to an hour. I bought the extra large dog bone (she would need a large) I gave it to her and she had it gone in less than 5 min! $4.00 in 5 min! I could have bought a coffee while I shopped. lol

The only thing that we buy her now is the retriever rolls (bones) and tennis balls. She will eventually destroy the tennis ball, but she loves to carry them in her mouth and squeeze. I never buy any toy that helps tug a war type behavior.

[Libby]

Heather yer dogs are beautiful! I want a pet now lol Thx for sharing the pics!