There are tons of dog toys on the market - all shapes, sizes, colors and textures. Some are for tossing, and others are for fetching, tugging, cuddling or chewing.
Every dog needs to have a good assortment of dog toys. But there is a dangerous truth about dog toys that I want to share with you today.
The truth is that ALL dog toys can be dangerous because there is NO TOY that is totally 100% indestructible, especially for aggressive chewers. That is the truth.
An aggressive chewer can destroy ANY toy, so if you have a dog that is super tough on toys, always supervise his play.
Here is another truth. If a dog is an aggressive chewer and he swallows the chewed pieces it can be very dangerous. Ingestion of toy pieces can cause life-threatening gastrointestinal foreign bodies that can require life-saving surgery to remove.
The most important thing you can do is to know your dog. Understand how destructive he is. Be aware of his behavior. Does he chew things up? Does he ingest the things that he chews up? Watch. Monitor. It's better to be safe than sorry.
The ideal is to give your dog toys while supervised so that you can observe your dog's behavior with his toys. This isn't to say that because your dog behaves well with a toy one time that he won't chew it up and eat it the next. You never know. I've seen dogs of all ages eat toys and require surgery to remove the toys.
With that being said, there are toys that are more durable than others. These toys were designed to hold up to an aggressive dog's chewing. My staff and I found some very strong toys that were durable and dogs really liked, and I put together a collection of 3 strong toys to recommend to my readers. One is a fun fetch toy made of recycled fire hose - very cool. They call it the Frequent Flyer. The next is the Everlasting Fun Ball, which is the most durable toy I've ever seen. You can fill it with treats or kibble to stimulate your dog to "think" and try to get the treats out. The last toy in the collection is a soft cuddle toy - very cute and sweet but durable. I call this rugged toy collection my Ruff Tuff Play Stuff. Check it out.
Remember, observe your dog. While many dogs have problems from ingesting chewed-up toys, more often the problem comes from dogs getting into the trash or ingesting human items such as socks, panty hose or underwear.
Until next time,
Dr. Jon
P.S. PetProductAdvisor.com has a special offer on the toy kit that I mentioned. To learn more about these toys, just click on the links below.
Don't feed your dog bread dough. When bread dough is ingested, it rises in a dog's stomach and as the dough ferments, alcohol is produced. After ingestion, dogs will act nauseated, vomit, act painful, lethargic or become disoriented.
The problem with bread dough ingestion can be from the severe distention of the abdomen as the dough rises in the stomach or from the alcohol produced as the dough ferments causing alcohol toxicity.
If your dog accidentally ate some dough, call your veterinarian or local emergency clinic.
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