Dog Toys (for the serious chewer)
Just FYI, this page may contain affiliate links. Meaning, if you shop through my links, I may make a small commission at no added cost to you. Please know that if you do shop through any of my links, I am extremely grateful as it supports the blog (and buys dog treats for Jackie, Lola, and Lady). Chewed up, spit out, destroyed, devoured, torn up, ruined, demolished, gutted, annihilated… Dog toys have a real short life expectancy in this house. We’ve tried every product we can find that promises to be durable, tough, and chew resistant. We might as well have just handed the pups our wallets to gnaw on. There is no toy a determined aggressive chewer can’t (literally) sink their teeth into and destroy. And just forget about anything stuffed, cute, or cuddly. Sure, Spot looks so cute snuggling with his new teddy bear…but it’s a lot less cute after picking fluff out of the carpet for the thousandth time. Also, that teddy bear won’t look so cuddly when it’s deflated and missing an eye, half an arm, and its nose. And don’t think a dog’s size indicates its chewing ability…tiny dogs can be vicious too (just ask Santa). I have a particularly sore spot for stuffed toys since the time one of our pups thought it would be a good idea to swallow an entire stuffed monkey (after tearing out its stuffing) and throw it back up. Oh, the vet bills… Maybe you stumbled across this post in the desperate search for a toy your dog can’t destroy (in which case you might not be feeling so hopeful at this point…sorry). Or maybe you’re just commiserating your dog’s ability to impersonate a goat (in which case, same). Either way, I’m here to share my expensive extensive knowledge and advice. Here are my top 5 toys for tough chewers (including a guesstimate for how long it’ll take the toy to go from your dog’s mouth to the trash can). Enjoy! This set of sports themed tennis balls are great for the fetching Fido. They’re made from an extra-thick rubber and Kong’s marketing claims that they are tougher and safer than tennis balls. And I can tell you, Kong isn’t lying about this one. I’ve seen my pups enthusiastically rip tennis balls in half in a matter of minutes. But these balls hold up pretty well for a few games of fetch (particularly if you’re dog enjoys fetching the ball and then gnawing on it while you attempt to wrestle it back). The best part is that Kong sells them in packs and they come in different sizes for every size of dog. So once Fido eventually does rip it to pieces (only a matter of time, ours made it about a month), throw it in the trash and grab a new one. One thing to note, however: the rubber on these balls is pretty tuff…the fuzz is definitely not. And your pup will happily chew off every fiber until the ball is balder than Grandpa’s head. I know, I know…I said I hated stuffed toys. But this one is worth noting. The TUFFY brand of dog toys boast up to four layers of material, protective webbing, up to seven rows of stitching, and squeaker safety pockets. Supposedly, it also floats (I can’t confirm this from experience as all of my dogs turn into big ol’ chickens when confronted with bodies of water). What it all boils down to, is that TUFFY really makes your dog work to get to the stuffing. Don’t worry, they eventually will, but it’ll take some effort. Through careful monitoring (meaning we took it away the second it looked like the dogs were making progress), we managed to keep ours around for a couple of months. Considering every other stuffed toy we’ve bought into this house lasted a whopping average of 2 minutes, I call this a win. Now, this is a toy designed to be chewed up. The Strong Chew Real Wood is made from a combination of real wood and nylon, so it’s safer than that stick your dog picked up in the backyard (also it doesn’t leave splinters all over the place for you to find…with your bare feet). The sticks are also flavored (mmm…bacon) so it’s a lot more enticing then that plain old stick too. Having a toy around specifically for your dog to chew up is a life saver, let me tell you. Hand them one of these bad boys when they’re going to be left to their own devices and you’re a lot less likely to discover chewed up bits of your favorite shoes, books, socks, phone chargers, headphones or carpet lying around the house (this is why we don’t own nice things). I bought one for Lola a few months ago and while she’s taken some decent chucks out of it, she hasn’t sent it to dog toy heaven yet. This is another toy designed to be destroyed. Marketing information for this toy states that it’s made for powerful chewers and flavored to keep dogs entertained and discourage destructive chewing (see above). Originally, I picked this up a few weeks as an easier way to keep the pup’s teeth healthy. The dogs have toothbrushes and toothpaste (as I write this I’m giggling over the fact that we’re the kind of people who buy toothbrushes for our dogs), but they’re not fans. I have to practically pin Lady and Jackie down and force their mouths open to brush half a fang before they wriggle away. And Lola just tries to chew on the brush the whole time. Dental chews make everyone happier. Again, like the Strong Chew Real Wood, they’ve made a few dents in it but it’s still in play. We didn’t actually buy this for the purpose of providing the dogs a chew toy. Shortly after acquiring our giant ball of fluff named Lola, we learned that she’s a very social creature. So much so that leaving her crated so we could leave the house for necessary things like work (enabling us to earn money to waste on useless dog toys) was tantamount to medieval torture. This pup has some lungs on her. The first few times we had to leave her crated to go to work found us physically cringing as we snuck out of the house, trying not to feel guilty as we listened to her howl in misery. But then we wised up and bought a Kong. A handful of dog food and spoonful of peanut butter and she barely noticed we were gone. That was almost 10 months ago…and we still have the damn thing. Even more miraculous, it barely even has teeth marks. These things are truly tough. Lola eventually got over the anxiety of being left home (so much so that she puts herself in the crate when I put on my shoes to leave…good puppy), so now the Kong is just a chew toy. And if she ever does manage to chew it up, I’m buying a new one ASAP.
