I have a new puppy who is 4 months old, named Simon and he is now entering into his chewing phase. He’s not a destructive chewer (yet), but he does gnaw things that I don’t consider to be appropriate or safe (wood decking, sticks for our firewood pile, woodwork in the house, the chair).
So far, he has a Kong Wubba, a Nylabone (not his fave), a stuffed squirrel, and a Petstages Orka Jack (which is great stuffed with treats).
What else is good and safe? Rawhides and pigs ears are out for safety reasons.
He is also having a problem chasing the cats. I have a pet gate blocking off half the house so the cats have a retreat. I know he just wants to play and he doesn’t chase them maliciously, but he runs at them and does a puppy bow and talks - the cats don’t like it and run. If the cats walk away, he doesn’t chase them but once they take off, the chase is on (until the gate is reached, at least). He has been swatted many, many times by the cats, and they have been very good about claws in so no puppy blood has been shed, but he doesn’t get the message that they don’t want to play.
Depends on the dog - different dogs like different things. Our dog completely ignored storebought toys once he discovered sticks. And then frisbees entered into his world, and sticks lost all their interest.
My dog loves the Kong with the squeakers in them. She will lay there chewing on them to make them squeak. But I also work for the company that makes them and get them for free.
My Boston terrorists are big fans of the Dino Cuz toys. The squeakers are very difficult to get out and the hard rubber is Boston Terrier resistant. (Not BT proof, mind you. No toy is, so far.) I don’t know what kind of puppy you have, but in my experience, very few dog toys can hold up against the mighty power of Boston jaws. If you have a dog that is related to any of the bully breeds (Bostons, pit bulls, English bulls, etc.), you may want to look for some of the more sturdy toys. My beasties can unstuff and desqueak any stuffie toy in 30 seconds flat. My older BT can unknot the end and gnaw the core out of a rawhide bone in about 20 minutes, leaving me with a slimy rawhide carcass. Bleargh.
The link below is to a blog by a BT owner who conducted a study to find which dog toys hold up best against Bostons (The Boston Terrier Challenge). A lot of BT owners like Loofah dog toys too, but that qualifies as a stuffie toy in my house and those things would last all of one minute–maybe.
Anyway, this post is my strong recommendation for Cuz toys. Track back a page or two for the complete list and reviews of toys tested in the BT challenge.
Oh, and I should add: my BTs live with a catzilla as well. Eventually, the puppy will settle down and learn to not get his face slapped by the cats. Catch a cat claw in the eyeball once or twice and you learn to close your eyes when you lunge at an armed cat. (It took several trips to the vet before my dog learned this particular doggie life lesson.)
When the dogs and cat were all new to each other, I crated the dog while I was not in the house to supervise. The cat box and food are kept behind a baby gate to keep the dogs out of it all and to give the cat some pooping privacy in a safe, quiet place. Crating helped me not have to worry about anyone getting their tail kicked while I was at work.
Now they all sleep together like litter mates. Your cat will either get more comfortable with the puppy and will start to play with him a bit (mine did), or the puppy will eventually get the message to leave the friggin’ cat alone. Either way, I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but I find it takes about a year, maybe two, for cats and dogs in the same house to begin to view each other as packmates. Cats are not pack animals like dogs are, but they tolerate dogs quite well after a bit, and the dogs are usually happy to adopt a cat or three into their pack. You may find the dog picking up cat behaviors or vice versa. My cat likes to go outside and walk with the dogs and pretty much runs around the house with them like they are one big happy family, although I’m sure he’d just as soon eat them while they sleep.
Simon is an English Setter mix. We don’t know what else he may be mixed with, but he chews with a very soft mouth probably because he is a bird dog; he hasn’t destroyed anything, yet. He has a squeaky stuffed squirrel that we bought for him while he was still at the shelter (waiting to get neutered so we could bring him home) and he hasn’t torn it or put any holes into.
Thanks for that site! And for the cat advice. I wish he’d realize they (I have 3) don’t want to roughhouse with him.
Our Sadie is a retriever mix, 3.5 months old. She really likes this, a rubber tube with fabric ropes inside. Although she’ll chew on it, mostly she likes to fetch and kill it.
She also likes a fabric thingie – a ball with a loop – that we’ve attached to a chair so she can play tug of war. And she likes a cat toy – a furry mouse with a squeaker. And shoes, and rugs, and paper, and towels, and socks, and the cat scratch post, and sofa pillows. So far no damage to furniture, even though we’ve left her alone several times for a few hours.
And another thing she likes is a knotted up washrag – wet it and put it in the freezer. I think the cold helps with teething pain.
This is our first puppy, and also the first dog we’ve had that has a bred-in trait – fetching. It’s like she was born knowing how and liking it. Amazing.
We also have two cats. Sadie chases and jumps and the cat rolls and then there’s hissing and spitting and the cat acts all abused and affronted. But next thing ya know, Sadie’s behaving herself and one of the cats will smack her with a paw and then run.
Funny thing she did the other day. Hubby was working on a plumbing problem. He’d forgotten a piece of plastic pipe and asked me to toss it down the stairs to him. The pipe was still in the packaging. I tossed it down. A few minutes later I went downstairs. The pipe was where I tossed it but it was out of the packaging. I thought I was going nuts – where’d that pipe come from? Turns out Sadie had unwrapped it, left the packaging on the floor and brought the pipe back where she found it.
My cat is pretty much the alpha, although both dogs outweigh him by 7 or 8 pounds. He now terrorizes both dogs, and the puppy-mill rescue is terrified to cross his path without permission. If Rescued Dog tries to get past the cat on his way out the door, the cat will swat at the dog’s butt just to remind him who’s boss. You can almost hear the cat snicker in derision when the dog cowers and tucks his ass under to power through a gauntlet run past Cat o’ Nine Claws.
On the positive side, after the cats make nice with the dog, there could be some collusion going on. I was skewering shrimp for the barbie one day and walked out of the kitchen for 2.8 seconds. When I returned, one of the skewers was missing. No pets in sight. The cat had jumped up on the counter, swiped a skewer of shrimp and took it down to the floor, where he shared it with the dogs. They were all delighted to have gotten a couple of raw shrimp each.
Damn shrimp-thieving critters.
Oh, for a bird-dog breed, you might think about a Frisbee or something. Dogs like that seem to like to chase and fetch. BTs are great for chasing, not so much for the fetching. They’d rather eviscerate a stuffie toy.
