Engaging Your Furry Friend
Dogs love toys. Do you know how to spoil your precious furball? Well, we have the answer. Between squeezes (like Hear Doggy Flatties), size or shape, your dog has a “type.”
The Best Enrichment Dog Toys
So to get to the point, here are some of the top-reviewed dog toys by pet owners. It’s not a full list of favorite toys, but a great place to start.
- WEST PAW Zogoflex Qwizl Dog Puzzle Treat Toy is for aggressive chewers and helps with fetch and catch. Top reviews from Amazon include durable for aggressive chewers. It’s interactive and mentally stimulating. And to boot, it’s recyclable. If your dog destroys a favorite toy within a day, this is a go-to as it should survive its play, but if not, it is environmentally friendly.
- Everyone knows that a dog loves Kong Toys. They are made to be indestructible. Fill them with dog-friendly peanut butter, and your puppy (they will always be a puppy to a true dog owner) will be satisfied for hours. One of the top-rated ones is KONG Dog Cozy Marvin Moose.
- Dogs love games of tug-of-war. It promotes many benefits for a dog parent. It can introduce impulse control and builds confidence. Even better, it can create a better bond between a dog and its parent. It resides in instinctual traits, so while motivational, it is also an ideal training tool. Also, for the pup parent, it will drain off the excess energy while keeping your dog engaged during the activity, and you can both have a restful night. For that, this Jolly Pets Dog 6-Inch Tug-n-Toss is top-rated.
- Need your ball of joy to get all of their energy out while doing minimal effort? Try out a ball launcher. It will fling the ball further than a throw, and your pup will run to the end of the earth to retrieve it. Here is a top-rated one: ChuckIt! Classic 26M Dog Ball Launcher. It has garnered high recommendations across the internet.
- Is your doggie ruining furniture, your children’s toys or overly aggressively gnawing at things? There are a lot of other toys that could pique its interest. Another highly rated one for your bundle of joy is Benebone Wishbone Durable Dog Chew Toy. It is reportedly seemingly indestructible.
- Now if you’re dog is precious, there is a special gem for you. The Outward Hound Hide A Squirrel Plush Dog Toy Puzzle would even stump de Vinci. It includes the squeak features, is interactive, mentally stimulating and gentle on their teeth and gums.
- Another option for your educationally advanced pup is the FABLE The Game Treat Dispensing Dog Toy. It combines a treat reward with games, so your dog works for “that bread.” As an Amazon page writes: “Stimulate your pet both mentally and physically with these food puzzles for dogs. The feeder’s weighted base and irregular motion triggers your dog’s prey drive, allowing them to eat the way nature intended - on the hunt.” It is highly recommended and, by reviews, helps maintain a happy doggo.
Also equally important, you need to sanitize your dog toys. This has both to do with their body health but also their dental health. Either have dishwasher-safe toys so that you can disinfect them or wash them by hand, but despite common myth, dog saliva is not sanitary.
Benefits of Enrichment Toys
Toys are also great to keep your dog mentally engaged and their emotional support animal (try removing their favorite toy and see how they react. They have an emotional attachment even if they destroy it). It’s best to take them to a pet-friendly store and pick out their own by sniffing it out, but if you can’t, here are some of our favorites. Overall, it’s very important to provide your special friend with a friendly environment.
You may think toys are superfluous, but if you keep your dog indoors all day, it is essential to keep them engaged. The benefits include the following:
Exercise: they did not evolve to be kept indoors. By giving them activities through toys, they can stay mentally and physically healthy. Even if you think your dog wants to sleep all day and eat, that’s not the case. Keep your pet healthy; toys are a great way to do this.
Mental Engagement: dogs form a bond with you. If you are negligent, they will be worse than the worst toddler. They will act out and destroy anything and everything and worse, be disobedient before your own eyes. (They still go through the terrible twos. From personal experience, I watched my pit bull urinate in my shoes while staring at me. It was that “I dare you” look; they are a lot smarter than we think, and toys are the best way to address this.)
A final thing, toys help with dental wealth. Just as with humans, a lot of ailments stem from teeth issues. Toys help to clean their teeth. Brush your dog’s teeth regularly, but products like Greenies (they are both a reward and a dental health solution) also provide the same function (dogs love them, unlike brushing and nail clipping).
In Conclusion
Toys are not just a pleasure for your pet. They help them stay mentally engaged (just like their human counterparts need to). They also help you from scratching and destroying furniture or your garden. There’s a huge selection of toys on the market. Just like going to a restaurant, not every dish is for everyone. There’s a huge selection of toys. Depending on their needs and preferences, there is a toy out there, but it may take a bit of trial and go. Chew toys, tasty treats and tugging toys aren’t contingent on just a breed but also on temperament. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it is a start to try out a few things to be the best dog parent ever.
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