im a firm believer in the nature of a dog and a toy is not apart of that,a wolf mom will allow them to chew a bone extract marrow there are no toys in the wild.teething is apart of nature.allowing a dog to chew things that synthetic is not good for them.mine chew wood as the were intended to.....there dogs ,not childern..respecfully...phil

ps... iv owned 26 dogs in the past and never used a toy and never had a chewed piece of furnature,,bones only, it worked for me....at all ages pups and adults ...as far as a toy being a stimulant.its exersise for my dogs...good thread...phil

But...firstly, dogs haven't been wild animals for a long, long time.

Secondly, many wild animals, particularly young ones, will find things to play with....so they are not man-made toys, but the principle of play is the same

If your dogs are happy, fair enough, but I think doing things on the basis of 'as they were intended to' is a weak argument because you only select the parts of a 'natural' existance that fit into your life....

..At least I certainly hope you do; I would hate to think you didn't get your dogs to a vet when needed (e.g. swallowed a splinter from a piece of wood) because you felt they should suffer without treatment 'as they were intended to'.

Goodness, that's me told
Nice post, Hali

Back to the topic...
I like Kongs and also The Busy Buddy. Loki also has an Orka Jack. Orka toys are very durable and Loki has not managed to kill his yet. Although he is an Elkhound, I get him toys that are designed for powerful chwers like Staffies and Rotties, because he has extremely strong jaws.

I leave Rio with her teddy, but then she isn't destructive like Loki and just squeaks it and cuddles it. Loki would have ripped it to shreds and then eaten it!

As for toys encouraging dogs to chew household things, I don't agree. Loki knows the difference between his stuff and our stuff, and even Rio's stuff. If I gave Loki a soft toy he would tear it up, but I can leave Rio's soft toys out and he doesn't touch them. Loki only ever trashed things that belonged to my youngest child, as she was three when I got Loki, and he was jealous of the attention she got. he would only do it if I was bathing her or upstairs reading to her. He never wrecked anything of mine!

Wow - controversial!

Thanks for the tips guys, have made a note of all of these.

Phil, do your pups fend for themselves food wise too? Hope not ;o) I do respect your opinion though dude, honest x

I found myself wondering about what you'd written, out of curiosity I did a search and found a website about Wolf cubs. It actually states on it that they do play in the wild with 'toys' ie: feathers, sticks, animal fur etc.

Here is the link (scroll down to where it states about Early Years)...

http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfPup.html

"mine chew wood" - I would never advocate letting a puppy/dog chew wood, it is highly dangerous. Many times dogs have been injured or even killed by playing with sticks or chewing them. Sharp pieces can get lodged in their throats or gullets. I always take wood or sticks from Marius if he picks them up.

You can get bouncy balls from naturalpetchoice.com (or at least you could, I assume you still can) that break down naturally if swallowed.

Really handy for dogs that destroy, chew or swallow because if they do swallow any of it, it won't cause a blockage

Oh pants, just checked and you can't.

But I shall speak to Kate and ask where she got them from before, because I like them and want to stock them!

hey guys ,i do what i can to allow my dogs to be dogs and do realise that there are domesticated...they get the best care possable needled ,check uped and worked as they were intended they chew wood on there own because there are no synthetic products for them,never a splinter in 35 years.....if i can find something the would do i the wild i encourage it...if it is deemed responcable and no danger to them or others ..they dont chase wild life,they dont pack up to be destuctive and they are pets and i have the ability to curb the natural instincts to fit my life and i do please dont get me wrong here ..there are things i do with my dogs that most would not....ps they do have pelts that they play with its a toy but its natual....they love fethers also.....