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Chapter 7: Dog Toys

Doggy Toys

There are aisles upon aisles of different toys available that you can choose from for your dog. Dog toys are fun, but also essential in certain stages of your dog's life. Young puppies require a certain amount of teething when they are in various stages of their lives, and without chew toys, you can bet they'll find plenty of places in your house that will serve to exercise those K9 incisors! So unless you plan on replacing a lot of furniture, picking chew toys your puppy likes and is attracted to is pretty important. Certain toys can also aid in exercise in your adult dogs life, such as retrievers and balls. But let's not forget those fun games of tug with your pup or the joys of watching your dogs romp around with a fun squeaky toy in any phase of their lives—each reason for choosing good dog toys is equally important, so you should have a good understanding of what's out there.

Rope Toys and Teething Stages

Rope is a fantastic material for puppies and teething dogs. Many rope toys are designed to be tug toys, or toys that either you can hold onto while your pet chews and tugs with their teeth, or that your pet can paw one end of and tug the other with their teeth by themselves. Rope is a great teething material because oftentimes it is constructed from more natural ingredients, so it can be less harmful to your dog in aggressive chewing stages should they ingest any of the materials. It's also a relatively easy make-it-yourself toy, as long as you are careful in obtaining natural and untreated materials that will be safe for your dog.

Synthetic Toys and All-Around Use

Other materials are used in a plethora of dog toys, such as bouncy rubber, hard rubber, nylon, and neoprene. It's important to find materials your dog likes playing with and gets excited about, but it's also important to choose toys made of materials that are durable and your dog can't chew through quickly. Oftentimes, toys are stuffed with cotton or synthetic materials that recent studies show may be harmful for your dog to ingest. Certain types of plastics containing BPA's may also be dangerous for your dog as well, so be sure to know all of the materials used in the toys you choose so you can make appropriate decisions for you and your pet.

Balls

If your dog is playing a lot, it sometimes points to the fact that they have pent up energy or aren't getting enough exercise, so take advantage of things like tennis balls, plush balls that dogs can fetch from you, or any other toys in any category that can allow your dog to be more active. Exercise is possible, even indoors, if you take a walk through your local pet store's toy aisle and get a little creative.