I’ve got a 65-lb black lab/pit bull?/whippet? mix that loves to destroy weak toys. Nothing soft & fluffy for Herbie, he likes to tear 'em apart. Luckily enough for us we have him trained so that he doesn’t eat random household objects.
The only 2 toys that last any length of time against the might of his jaws of steel are:
Kongs usually last a good long while. Galileos are meant to be chewed, but the last one we gave him (the “souper” sized largest one) only lasted 2.5 months. I feel like giving him more toy vareity, even though he doesn’t seem bored to me.
Are there any other super-durable dog toys out there that we haven’t heard of?
Let me advise you against a hockey puck, which one of my brothers gave our golden/collie mix. Little. Black. Specks. Everywhere. Took him about 12 minutes, tops.
They make look durable, but dog chew toys, they ain’t.
“Tuffies Pet Toys are the most durable toys available. Our toys are made from 1 layer of soft fleece to allow for easy chewing and 2 layers of ballistic, industrial grade coated denier nylon in the center. All three layers are bonded and sewn together to make one Tuff Layer.”
No dog toy lasts long when you have a determined chewer with strong jaws. My mom works in a pet store, so I’ve tried a lot of what’s out there. Kongs seem to be the best, but dogs sometimes lose interest in toys they can’t destory. I’ve pretty much given up on searching for a long-lasting toy. (I’d be thrilled to have one last 2.5 months!)
The whole point of a toy to a dog is to “kill” it. If it’s stuffed, they won’t rest until they’ve ripped out the toy’s “guts” and if it’s a chewy, they won’t stop until they’ve gnawed it into oblivion. That’s just how they play. I know it’s a bummer for we humans who have to keep replacing them, but a dog has to get out its chewing/hunting/killing instincts somehow, and it’s better he eviscerates a stuffed toy now and then than your good shoes.
The problem with going too tough of a toy is that the dog might hurt its teeth. No, sometimes they won’t stop if it’s starting to hurt-- my mom told me of a woman whose dog required dental surgery after she let it chew on a piece of metal. You want the toy to give before his teeth do.
Things I’ve had good luck with: Kongs, Nylabones (flavored) and large rope toys. The Kong I fill with penut butter and freeze-- it provides hours of yummy fun.
You’ll probably never want to give this dog real bones. If all he does is gnaw on them, it’s probably okay, but if he breaks off chunks (which it sounds like he would), they could get lodged in his intestines.
Planet Dog’s “Orbee-Tuff” toys are supposedly able to be run over by a lawnmower without harm (to the toy). My dog has 2 of their toys and she indeed has not been able to destruct them. Plus, the toys are minty
I have two GIANT Nylabones that I bought at Petco (I got the “Knot” style – less gross-looking) for about $20 each. They’re about the size of my size-9 foot, and I wouldn’t like to drop them on it. So far (about a year) they have been impervious to the efforts of our two most vigorous chewers (shepherd/lab mix and springer spaniel).
My 25-lb terrier mix has a “Plush Puppies” branded “Hedgehog” that has lived without destruction or dysfunction since Christmas 2004.
The full brand of the product line is “Plush Puppies Deluxe Crazies Dog Toys” per a description on Petco’s web site.
This little terrier killed everything else she’d ever seen in… 5 days.
Our biggest trick was that the Hedgehog guy is bigger than her head. Makes destroying it much more logistically difficult.
I do not know that all bones are necessarily bad. Certainly poultry bones are right out as is pretty much any bone from something you cooked for yourself. However, I forget the details but a properly prepared bone can be quite safe. IIRC the bone needs to be smoked rather than “cooked”. Whatever the specifics you can find these bones specifically meant for dogs at some better stores for pets or online.
I had one such store about a block away from where I lived and they had beef knucklebones, femurs and shank bones. Mind you these are BIG bones. Very sturdy. They could double as a weapon right in line with a bat if you smacked someone with it. I have a 100 pound Shepherd and she loves these. My dog has literally eaten Nylabones to some shredded fraction of what they started out as. She has never managed to break the femur bone we got her from this store. Of course the first few days when the bone was tasty (smoked flavor) not to mention some beefy (dried but beefy) bits still attached were the best part for her (yeah…they are a little bit gross for the humans handling them at the outset). She never managed to break that bone at all…just sort of wore down one end a bit.
Of course this might count as something too hard to be good for a really determined chewer (as mentioned above where they will break their teeth on something too hard). However, if the dog is not that nuts over chewing these things are a big hit.
I’ll second the Nylabones. Great, great things. When we were recently out of the country for a year and the supply dried up, beef ribs worked adequately, but they didn’t last nearly as long as the Nylabones do.
The ONLY, (and we’ve tried everything) toys my dogs can’t destroy are Kongs and, believe it or not, raquet balls. We’ve had the same 3 raquet balls for quite a while and they don’t even show a sign of being gnawed. They try to chew it but it just compresses and slips out of their jaws. Hours of entertainment I tells ya.
The thing I love about Kongs is putting peanut butter in them, then freezing them. The dogs have a nice treat to chew on for quite a while. It’s great for when we need them quiet when guests are over.
The formula I’ve always heard is that if the dog can snap off pieces bigger than a grain of rice, it could get lodged in their intestines. (Inedible toys, of course)
It greatly depends on their chewing style whether or not they’ll hurt their teeth. If the dog chomps hard, trying to break open the bone, there could be problems, but if the dog just lies down with it and gnaws for hours, grinding off tiny bits, you should be fine.
I just wanted to pop in and second the Tuffies at http://www.mydogtoy.com our toyminator is a 25# 2 year old terror…err…terrior mix. (1/2 jack /Min Pin)… she’s gone thru everything the locals had to offer (most in under 5 minutes) the ultimates from mydogtoy.com have lasted better than a week with little evidence of the hard abuse this pup has put them thru!
No. She’s a 85# Golden Retriever. She has the OrbeTuff LARGE ball and it is small enough for her to catch but not nearly small enough to swallow. They have 3 different sizes of most of their toys.
She also has a large Orbee Tuff bone which is way big and impossible to swallow.
I also remembered that Old Navy had dog toys (some crap near the checkout) and I got a baseball shaped-and-sized ball that happened to be Orbee Tuff as well. It’s a little larger than a tennis ball and she can’t swallow it.
Anytime you go somewhere new, or someone says, “I’m going to XXXX, do you want me to bring you anything?” Ask for rocks.
Every trip for about a decade we did this for the Westie with Jaws of Might. Rocks were the only thing that ‘lasted’. Rocks from different places, smelling and tasting of different things.
No rocks were removed from protected wild life areas on eco-vacations.
Thanks for all the replies. I’m intrigued by the Tuffies and interested to see whether they really hold up or not, so I think I’m going to try one (not personally, mind you).
If any weekend dopers have more ideas, keep ‘em comin’!
