I have two dogs and they seem capable of tearing through any and every dog toy made by man. The big one has a very strong jaw that can power through the toughest of toys and the little one has small needle-like teeth that penetrate through everything.
I have tested LOTS of toys on them and the only thing they haven’t been able to get through so far are Kongs. They LOVE playing with toys but it seems like five minutes later the bunny is missing a head, pig is missing a tail, etc.
Does anyone know of any other tried and true indestructible dog toys? I need your help! -Natalie
I have two dogs and they seem capable of tearing through any and every dog toy made by man. The big one has a very strong jaw that can power through the toughest of toys and the little one has small needle-like teeth that penetrate through everything.
What have you found, guys? What’s the best way to make a dog toy that might have a chance of standing the test of time?
We had a toy poodle who would eat rubber squeak toys. He ended up at the Vet’s with a bowel obstruction.
We found some hard rubber toys that he wasn’t able to rip apart, but that was about it. I don’t know what they were called, but they came out of the general merchandise section of my Dad’s grocery store, so they weren’t anything too exotic.
Stuffed toys are always ruined however we have a basket full of heads and feet and random shreds of fake stuffed animal fur. She plays with them just as much…orobaly more.
I’ve threatened to go to the craft store and just buy a yard or two of fake fur and sew it into tubes and let him go at them!
I have a pug-spitz mix who chews A LOT. I took an old towel, cut it into 3 strips (the long way), braided those strips together, and knotted both ends. It’s been 6 months and this thing is still intact; sure it looks disgusting and is covered in dog slobber, but it works. My in-laws have braided two towels together to make a thicker rope for their coonhound-of-mass-destruction. The best part about these ropes is that they are free!
Pretty indestructible and not dangerous if your dogs happen to chew through them are thick knotted ropes. The dogs I know love them.
Definitely Nylabones. Our vet isn’t a fan of them (apparently they can chip or break bad teeth), but our beagle mix Pete looooooves them and will chew strictly on those.
Thick rope bones are good, too. Quality is important here; the cheaper store-brand rope bones can fall apart easily, but those Booda rope bones seem to last nearly forever.
Basically, nothing soft and squishy that can be easily ripped apart by your hands. If you’d have to take scissors to it, it’ll probably last a while. We’ve got some canvas toys with squeakers in them that have lasted for years.
Have you noticed any patterns to their chewing? With my boxer, we have observed that while she loves to chew, she also has anxiety issues.
While eliminating the toys she was eating, we also gave her a variety of textures to chew on. I think that because she has choices, she does seem to spend a significant more time chewing on the indestructible toys than the ones that are more vulnerable.
She has her kongs (in different shapes and sizes) and an elk antler which are allowed inside and outside the crate with her. If her bed is in her crate, it gets destroyed. Towels, regular blankets, sheets, etc. would also be shredded/eaten in the crate. Super soft fuzzy blankets that feel oh-so-good against your skin? Not only do those survive with minimal chewing, but she actually likes going into her crate with them! ($13 per blanket at Costco for anyone interested).
Outside her crate, she can chew on her tennis ball, which is fuzzy but doesn’t seem to sustain any damage. We recently have gotten her a few different textured stuffed animals that did suffer “wounds.” When a hole was punctured, I pulled out all of the stuffing. She seems to still enjoy playing with the carcasses and doesn’t chew on those much. One particular stuffed animal survived longer than all the others. It was bought at one of those tiny mom and pop dog stores, and it was marked as indestructible with triple layer sewing – and I think the only reason it did develop a hole was because my boyfriend made the mistake of playing tug-of-war with her using that toy. So you may want to look for something along those lines.
When she seems to want to play tug-of-war (one of her favorite games) or if someone comes over, we take out this rubber chain. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3207026 We usually put it away when we’re done playing but it’s been left out a few times and I’ve seen her chew on it, and it seems unharmed.
What definitely does not work: rubber teething toys, tire toys, anything with a rope, or hard plastic.
As a kid who grew up with a pack of huskies (8-10 at any given time) I have to say I remember the stew bones and cow toes being the best. We also had great success with our corgi by getting one of those hard plastic balls you put in horse stalls. He herded it around all day but it was impossible to destroy.
I would also say, as a kid who grew up showing those huskies in the ring at dog shows that dog show vendors are invaluable. My pro tip: Vendors often carry hard-to-find supplies AND toys at shows. Sometimes things that aren’t ever sold on the internet or in stores. Really. It is SO worth looking up your local dog show (often hosted/sponsored by your local kennel club at an arena or warehouse) and pay the small parking fee to get access. You can find all manor of supplies and toys, plus talk to the vendors themselves about your specific dog (even if it’s not purebreed!) to get their suggestions on toys they might not be able to destroy.
My mum has a Newfoundland and he can chew just about anything. She was looking for something tough and found Safestix. They were initially designed as an alternative to throwing sticks (as they can splinter in a dogs mouth) but are made from similar stuff to a Kong so are really durable. They are UK-based but you may be able to buy through Amazon
I use the “Go Dog” kevlar-material double sewn toys for my boxer and he and his bulldog best friend have been pulling at it and ripping at it together for the last few months with minimal damage, also they’re relatively inexpensive so I don’t mind when I do have to replace them.
Here are two websites you can peruse at your leisure:
Boomer Ball: http://boomerball.com/
We use these at the zoo for all kinds of animals. The tigers and wolves eventually will chew/claw them, but they won’t break from dropping and if you get one big enough it’s harder for the dog to get it’s jaws around to chew.
AussieDog: http://www.aussiedog.com.au/products.php?rangeid=15&catid=23
Click on Products and then zoo range. These toys are made for big cats, and so are going to be much more indestructible than a toy marketed for domestic dogs.
That being said, two of my friends have pit bulls that haven’t met a truly “indestructible” toy yet. I’ll have to suggest the deer/elk antlers!
I WORK IN A PET STORE!!! I have seen a lot people desperately searching for “indestructable” dog toys. Unfortunately, the truth is, there is no such thing. ALL toys will eventually wear, but here are two that stand up to the test (and come with guarantees).
The first is WEST PAW DESIGN (http://www.westpawdesign.com/catalog/dogs/dog-toys). Their toys are made of recyclable material and are kind of “squishy”. Instead of your dog’s teeth tearing through, the squishy material absorbs the impact of the teeth. Plus, once they do tear it up- the company will replace the toy (once) for FREE!
The second (and best BY FAR) is made by Goughnuts (http://www.goughnuts.com/). Same idea as the West Paw Design toys, but their guarantee is FOR LIFE! That’s right! They will replace your damaged toys FOR LIFE!!!!!
Hope that helps 🙂
My 18 month old lab/rottweiler mix can destroy most toys in seconds flat. So far the only ones that have lasted are the Galileo Bone from Nylabone: http://www.petco.com/product/2566/Nylabone-Galileo-Bone.aspx & the Orka Bone http://www.amazon.com/Petstages-230-ORKA-Bone/dp/B001FK46MW. The Orka bone in particular is still completely intact, while the Galileo bone has slowly been ground down by her chewing, but is still 95% in tact.
As for plush toys, we’ve had great luck with Tuffy toys. The tug toy in particular has lasted several months without a single hole! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K8IHUC/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00. Go for the items with the higher tuffy rating (8 or above) for best resistance to destruction.
Thanks for al of the suggestions.
We have a pugalier, so getting him a gigantic hard toy is out iof the question as he just won’t use it. But anything soft he chews through, pulls out the stuffing, eats the stuffing, sucks on the material. He pulls the individual threads free that make up the big rope toys and eats them, he chews nylabones until his mouth bleeds….my sister has also tried sewing a bunch of calico together, it lasted him a little longer than shop bought toys but still needed a lot more stitching! Sometimes we do just buy him the throw aways as you can see how much joy they bring him!
Petsmart has these awesome toys made out of canvas (can’t remember the brand name, sorry! It’s an environmentally-friendly line, though!). I bought my GSD the squeaky lion, and he loves it. I had to sew up the neck and one of the legs, but it’s lasted since December. Most of their toys are for smaller dogs or ones that are less-intense chewers…
The only thing I found that was completly indestructible which was thrown over my fence by my neighbor, who works as a high school gym teacher, who did this whenever the balls would start wearing out was a hands on football. It’s a teaching football and I let some of the air out and my 100lb lab could destroy police blue kongs couldn’t destroy this thing. She had it for 5 years before she passed and it’s now a year later our found lab puppies new toy. She’s 7 months and 70lbs and can destroy anything as well. We found her at 5 weeks walking along the side of the interstate and wow has she been a rough chewing machine. I ordered 8 more footballs and 4 basketballs once I found where I could get them, it took me a year to find where I could buy them searching high and low, and have inflated 2 more for traveling but non of them have holes in them.
http://www.esportsonline.com/hands-on-153-basketball.html
I have two dachshunds and they pretty much rip of anything I give them. They just love to rip out the stuffing to get to the squeaker. There are some more rubberized toys that I have found, but not so much on the plush toys. There’s a great site the researches these: http://www.indestructibledogtoys.org go there and check it out. It pretty much puts all of the toys in one place and breaks them down.
Little bit late to the party here, but I’ve found some good ones for our oversized Am-Staff..
I’m not sure if they’re in the USA (I’m in the land of Aus!), but there’s a company called Aussie Dog that make a range of very tough toys (they use them with zoo animals).
http://www.aussiedog.com.au/
The staffy ball and the home alone range I highly recommend. We’ve had his home alone toy for 4 months and it’s still going!
Another good one is the Good Cuz/Bad Cuz balls.. http://www.jwpet.com/dog/cuzdetails.html
The squeaker is gone, but it’s still in one piece!
Go Dog brand chew guard toys! My lab/bully mix adores squeaky plushies but absolutely destroys them. Normally they last a few days to a week. His Go Dog plushies, however, are going on 4 months with no tears or punctures. Magic!
Many comments so I’m not sure if this has been mentioned yet:
Tuffy toys (the higher the number, the harder it is to destroy.)
http://www.tuffietoys.com
I bought my brother’s dog’s a toy made from a fire hose. It is completely indestructible. It didn’t even show any wear from playing with our chewing on it.