How to Buy Dog Toys That Are Safe And Durable

When you buy dog toys, you want them to be safe, first and foremost. You also want the dog toys you buy to be durable and a source of great fun for your dog. With these three main criteria in mind (safety, durability and enjoyment potential) here are some tips on how to buy dog toys.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A desire to buy dog toys that are safe, durable and fun.

1. Make sure that the dog toys you buy are big enough. You don't want to use any small objects as dog toys, because dogs are likely to choke on them.

2. Balls are very popular as dog toys. Just make sure that you don't give them any that are smaller than tennis balls. Tennis balls and balls that are larger than tennis balls are perfectly fine as dog toys.

3. Rubber Kong dog toys are a good choice because of their interesting shapes, their durability, and the fact that they can't break into smaller parts that a dog could accidentally choke on or swallow.

4. Plush dog toys such as stuffed animals do not typically fare so well on the durability scale. Also, a dog can chew stuffed animals, break them open, and consume the stuffing. (The stuffing may or may not be made of safe materials, and you don't want to take any chances or assume that the stuffing could be safe when it might actually be toxic.)

5. People used to use raw hide, pig ears and animal hooves as dog toys (specifically as chew toys) that dogs could gnaw on. Unfortunately, as dog owners and vets have discovered, these items are actually not appropriate or safe dog toys, because dogs can actually chew off small portions of these items and choke on them. Not only that, but such items can actually be contaminated by salmonella and/or other toxins, which is yet another reason they should never be used as dog toys.

Tips & Warnings

• Always be on the lookout for dog toy recalls. Unfortunately, dog toys sometimes are recalled due to safety problems, so pay close attention to the news, (and especially to news about dog toy recalls).

Resources

• Kong Dog Toys

[jillbeth]

on 3/25/2009 Great information, thanks! A Lab I know is such a strong chewer that his owner gave him a lawn tractor tire for a toy. I don't know if that's good for the dog, but it kept him satisfied.

[RachelB]

on 2/7/2009 Thanks so much, writeitout. So glad to hear about your clean house, too! lol

[writeitout]

on 2/7/2009 I completely agree with #4, our lab and smaller mix dog can chew up plush toys the instant they get them. Our smaller dog also proceeds to eat the stuffing too! We've resorted to non-plush toys and our house is much cleaner (ha ha!), 5*