Today
I want to talk about something
very important.
Toys. You might think that toys are just for fun but toys are very
important to a pet’s health and happiness. Toys keep us from
getting bored and we all know that a bored pet can be can
get into a lot of trouble. Boredom can also lead to behavioral
problems and nobody wants a misbehaving pet.
Not
all toys are the same and not all pets like the same kinds of toys.
DixieLee likes all kinds of toys. She
likes to carry plush and
unstuffed toys
around the house and she likes to play tug of war with our rope tugs.
I like to shake plush toys until
they are died but
I like to play catch the ball the best.
The
size of toys is also important. Big dogs should have bigger toys
than little dog. Balls
are great for playing catch but a ball that is too small for the
dog’s size can bet caught in his/her throat and make them choke.
Some
pets, if they don’t have real toys, will find things like human
socks or children’s toys to play with. If
they don’t have good toys to chew on they might chew on furniture
or a part of your house that you don’t want chewed.
Some human toys are okay but it is best to have toys that
are made
special for dogs. Some children’s toys have eyes or other pieces
that can come off and cause choking. Some
dogs like to tear apart plush toys but they should never be allowed
to eat the stuffing!
Toys that are
broken or have stuffing coming out of them should be fixed or thrown
away.
Toys should also
be washable.
Lots of people
like rawhide but dogs should not be allowed to eat rawhide because it
can make their bellies sick and dogs have been died because the
rawhide gets in their bellies and can’t get out. We do not put
rawhide toys in our gift baskets.
We like hard
rubber toys like Kongs instead. Dogs like to chew and hard rubber is
good for chewing without letting pieces get broken off and swallowed.
Even when we are
playing with toys by ourselves, Mom and Dad make sure we are
supervised. The only toys we are allowed to have in our crates when
no humans are home are caribou horns.
So if you want a
healthy dog with good behavior give them good toys to play with.
Your playful
friend,
Zeva
P.S. Blatant self
promotion. Just a reminder all of our pet gift baskets have lots of
toys in them. See them all at pawpalsboutique.com
Very good, Zeva. When we got Jasper, his Aunt Nora got him a teddy bear toy...sometimes he likes to play with it and sometimes not. His favorite toy is an old Ostrich head that belonged to Halley, the dog who went to the Bridge just before we got Jasper. It had been a whole Ostrich, but Halley had played with it so much that all that was left of it was the head, which makes a great ball with a squeaker. Jasper must have been dumped somewhere and told to "get the ball" before he was found by the shelter. He will chase the "ball" down, but won't try to bring it back to whoever threw it. Another favorite toy he has is a chicken with a squeaker. Sometimes he will take that to the front room, but he never brings back the toy. I have to carry it back to our room.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing...the kitties got a piggy with a squeaker at the same time as Jasper got his chicken, but they rarely play with it. Jasper likes to shake the piggy to death. He has other toys, too...but I had to hide my special plush tiger a friend sent to me because I don't want it to get "killed". LOL! He has regular balls as well, but rarely plays with them. I haven't tried the rope toy to tug for awhile. Might do that sometime.
He has no lack of toys.
Thanks for your new blog. I love reading them.
LOL Your comment made us smile. Your house sounds like a fun place to live. We know all about bodyless toys. Once of Zeva's favorites is the head of what used to be a squirrel. It head is the bestest squeeky ball ever.
DeleteLove hearing from you guys.
Love
Marie and Zeva
Sounds like Zeva and Jasper are two of a fur friend. LOL!
DeleteLove reading the blogs.