Rugged Dog Toys- 11.10.12
Phew* what a few days it has been! On Tuesday, we added a new addition to our NOTCOT family - Bucky (short for Buckminster, naturally) the 8 week old black labrador retriever puppy! (My first puppy!) This awesome little guy is a ball of non stop energy, and we’ve been lucky that he’s magically house broken, sleeping through the night, and great with other people, dogs, machines and more… but it also means he learns crazy fast, can get sneaky, and can’t get enough play time sprinting throughout the house and yard when not sleeping or eating! It has also become clear that this little guy is going to get HUGE! And since Shawn has a big, older, 120 pound lab back home in TN - i’ve been getting caught up on what toys will and will not stand up to the hardcore, persistent chewing of a lab in full force…
So we’re starting Bucky off right - and trying to find the most fun, chew-proof toys that will last (besides the usuals we already have at home that he’s loving - tennis balls, hockey sticks, etc) - and aren’t too hard on the eyes (it’s been mind numbing seeing how much terrible stuff there is out there - both in aesthetics and quality!)… On the next page you can see some of the things we’ve bought, as well as some i’m curious about…
P.S. Do you have a dog? What are his/her favorite toys that have been exciting and lasted well?
You can see a bit of what life with Bucky has been like the last few days…
(Follow us on Twitter or Instagram to see more!)
Go Dog toys with Chew Guard Technology - so tough they even guarantee it! “If your dog destroys his goDog toy, we will send you a free replacement. Send a photo of the destroyed toy to info-at-quakerpetgroup.com.” Shawn’s older, HUGE lab is quite the chewer - extracting the squeakers of most toys in MINUTES - but these have been holding up amazingly well! Bucky’s loving the little dragon so far… and just can’t destroy him yet as hard as he’s tried!
Chuck It - Kick Fetch and Launchers and the amazing variety of Launcher Compatibles - especially the silly Duck Divers and Gators that float upright! Running around the yard with him chasing us has become the best way to tire him out at night before bed - the Kick Fetch ball is perfect! As fun for us as it is for him…
Dogs iN Action - DNA that you can stuff with treats and the Hol-ee Roller - from JW. You can squeeze tennis balls (and lots of other things) inside the Hol-ee Roller, and it’s a good tug of war toy…
HyperPet Ball Launchers - super slingshots for tennis balls, with easy re-load and ball pick up. They can hold 1, 2, 4 balls. We first found one of these in a massive Hunting Store - they are so fun, launching tennis balls (up to 220 ft supposedly)!
Planet Dog - Orbee Balls, Glow In The Dark Whistle Ball, the Wood Chuck line (from the bamboo ball tosser to the various ones that fit inside), Orbee Tuff Mazee
West Paw Designs Zogoflex Toys
Everyone has been recommending Kong - so many options, but lots are vouching for their classic Kong!
A menagerie of creatures from JWmade of tough natural rubber and a squeaker designed not to fall out. Here’s the Elephant and Chicken, Frog, Fish, Turtle, and Octopus
Mighty Dog Toys - these also have super durability…
Here’s BUCKY! (and the Dragon)
… and separately - these were so cute, i had to share!
Kong CHEW BUDDIES - there’s a variety pack, and bigger ones…
Another one we just ran into… Pet Projekt - from Squeakie Tikis to lots of fun geometric forms to chew and chase!
Congrats on your new addition!! I’m a little late to the puppy party here (I *just* saw your adorable puppy posts on the Twitters…) As a fellow black lab owner, I felt compelled to leave some toy tips! My Charlie’s 1 1/2 now and looves his Mighty Toy seal and Hear Doggy whale (it’s got a silent squeaker!) I’ve found that once his teething was over, he has been much kinder to his stuffed animals. He was quite rough with his first whale and Kong Braidz giraffe. Definitely a deer antler is a wonderful thing. He used to chew rawhide rolls to satisfy his insatiable chewing needs when he was little (they aren’t all that healthy for them plus they need to be supervised) but with the antler you don’t really have those worries. Plus there’s little to no mess. He’s on his second one (a really big one this time) and he carries it around like a tusk. It’s so cute! Umm, what else… he loves his JW Crackle ball (he loves the crunchy water bottle sounds) and his Cuz ball. He loooves playing soccer outside in the yard with a basketball! (We did have soccer balls but he liked chewing the vinyl off, but again, this was when he was little and couldn’t stop chewing things.) The basketball’s not fully inflated so he can run around and carry it in his mouth. When we go out to a field off-leash, he loves retrieving Chuckit whistler balls. And for the beach, the Chuckit bumper is awesome. Oh yeah, you can’t go wrong with Orka products… the tennis ball, flyer and puck have been all great hits with my guy. And lastly, a good ol’ fashioned rope. He’s gone through a couple of Flossies so far. Oh, and it’s good to invest in the Kong Wobbler to feed your lil’ guy. It slows them down as labs love to gobble their food! Enjoy puppyhood! It goes by fast!
----- Julie 23.11.12 23:22