It's ironic to us, that due to the fact we subsist entirely off federal loans for graduate school, that we adopted a dog. We have undoubtedly found the cheapest ways to raise a dog in thisexpensive city, but we still find the largest portion of our money is spent on Havi! One of our friends said it best "she's our hobby."
Nothing has become a bigger waste of time and money than Havi's toys. After everyone meets Havi they bring her a stuffed animal. These stand NO CHANCE against Havi. She plays generally with her IQ ball, bones, kongs, and tennis balls. I'll let her play with a Flossy Rope, but only under supervision (if the rope comes loose it could strangle their intestines).
I have noticed that many people note different toys and games they give their pups to withstand the "ultimate chewers." Our latest toy attempt was the Survivor Tire Trax. We were HIGHLY recommended this toy.
Here is the result
What is currently left of this highly recommended toy
What my floor has looked like for the past month
Havi claiming it wasn't her!
Caught her!
So today's question, of course: what toys have you found last the longest and withstand the "ultimate chewers?"
I will be anixously awaiting the answers to your posted question. I too have a couple of Havi type SUPER CHEWERS that toys don't seem to stand a chance against. So I will be following the recommendations you get here. Havi is a beauty! Love that her white soul patch :-)
ReplyDeleteThere have been no indestructible toys in our house!
ReplyDeleteKari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com
Excellent question! This scene looks very eerily familiar. I have dedicated multiple blog posts to the search for indestructible toys. I could dedicated an entire blog. In the last two years we have seen a whole lot of destruction. Shiva comes by her name naturally it seems.
ReplyDeleteAs for recommended toys... The best ones are pricey, like antler chews and Tuffy toys (level 9 and higher only). Good old fashioned rope works. It isn't indestructible but when it tears you don't feel so bad because it was cheap. Nylabones, the hardest you can find, though my dog loses interest pretty fast. Firehose isn't too bad... Um... Yeah, good luck!
antlers! I just did a post about them in my blog.
ReplyDeletehttp://maisieme.blogspot.com/2011/04/antlers.html
I can chew through anything except my Ruffians Octopus. I even have them in 2 colors!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.petco.com/product/108582/JW-Pet-Ruffians-Octopus-Dog-Toy.aspx
Nubbin wiggles,
Oskar
After Elli started tearing up her toys, I began a training plan to reinforce good-chewing and to negatively punish bad-chewing (aka taking away the toy). She's since learned what's acceptable and her toys remain in tact. :) I, too, got tired of buying toys that only lasted a few days/weeks at best. I imagine though, as bad as Havi's chewing looks, lol, that they only last a few hours!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, Havi is one tough pup :)
ReplyDeleteLola destroys EVERYTHING. The one toy she has not destroyed is the Planet Dog Orbee balls. They are soft so I am sure she could destroy it. But it has lasted over 3 months and there are no teeth marks or holes on it. Other than that nothing else. I get her a lot of thick ropes because those last a long time, but those ultimately get destroyed too.
ReplyDeleteJack killed one of those 'indestructable' tire toys too. The only thing he can't ruin? Extreme Kongs... the black ones.
ReplyDeleteThe Holee Roller works for us. The brand is JW, and they make lots of durable rubber toys. Oscar's Kongs stay intact, because he just eats what's inside without really chewing. He only has red ones, but the black ones are designed for strong chewers. Planet Dog makes some good, bouncy rubber toys too. Deer antlers are the one thing that we can leave him with that he can't destroy or eat right away but which also satisfy his need to really gnaw on something.
ReplyDeleteAs for your question about the crate pad (sorry it took me so long to answer!), I haven't found one that withstands chewing. Right now, we use fleece blankets, but he's eaten corners of them. Everything else gets ripped or de-stuffed. I remember reading, long before I got Oscar, about these crate pads which I guess were rubber or something similar which were designed to withstand chewing, but I can't for the life of me remember what they were called or where to get them. If I find them, I'll let you know!