Wednesday 25 April 2012
Doggy Toys, how to entertain your best buddy!
Toys are an absolute ‘must’ in an animals life! Besides fighting boredom, they can also help prevent certain problem behaviours from developing.
As some of you might know from previous experience, cat’s can be rather picky when it comes to enjoying a toy. Sometimes they quickly push their new shiny toy aside for an old newspaper and other times it can’t get enough of a catnip toy mouse!
Dogs on the other hand are often more than happy to play with any object they come across, which means you will have to spend some time monitoring your pet-friend’s playtime to avoid any “unscheduled” activities! Shiny squeakers are often one of many dogs’ favourite toys. If you are planning on buying your little friend one of these, remember to make sure the squeaker is buried in its centre. Your dog may feel that he must find and destroy the source of the squeaking so it might be good to monitor your dog whilst he’s playing with it to make sure the poor thing doesn’t accidentally ingest it!
A few safe suggestions include a very hard rubber toys like chewing bones, as they are great fun to chew on and to carry around. Or if your dog enjoys the occasional tug war, perhaps buy him a rope toy. These are usually available in “bone” shape with knotted ends and can provide hours of endless fun!
You could keep a variety of toys available for your dog to play with at all times. Perhaps provide him with one toy to carry, one to “kill”, one to roll, one to “baby” and one to chew. That way there will always be something there to entertain him, whatever mood he’s in!
“Hide and Seek” is a fun way for dogs to enjoy something new and get rid of excess energy whilst they’re stuck indoors on a rainy day! “Found” toys are often far more interesting and appealing than toys that are directly introduced to them. So perhaps spend some fun, quality time together and make a little interactive game out of finding toys or treats.