When you have big dogs, with powerful jaws and big teeth, it is essential to learn which toys will stand up to the punishment they can dish out. It’s a lot cheaper to buy chew toys than it is to refinish furniture or replace Fluevog [www.fluevog.com] shoes.
Finding dog toys that entertain my two “boys” and last longer than a few days can be a challenge. Ben is a 5 year old, 100 pound Yellow Lab. Tip is a 1 year old, 105 pound Boxer/Pointer cross. Labrador Retrievers are life-long chewers. As long as they have teeth, they will chew on something. Tip is still considered a puppy and will grow for another 6 months. He chews on anything that doesn’t chew on him first. Sometimes he chews on things that DO chew on him first.
I have made it my quest, over the three years since we got Ben, to find indestructible chew toys. After a process of trial and error, I have found some of the most durable toys on the market. Unfortunately, I also found some overpriced, under-performing toys that don’t deserve the reputation they have for endurance. My results may surprise you.
What surprised me the most, and was a big disappointment, was the Kong brand chew toy. I got one “rated” for dogs in the 40 to 80 pound range when Tip was around 6 months old. It was fine for him. However, this is a two dog household. Ben destroyed it in 2 days of part-time chewing. Ben is 20 pounds over the weight limit for this toy’s rating…but for it to only last TWO days seems extrordinarily flimsy given their vaunted reputation.
I’d had bad luck in the past with Booda brand toys when I’d had a Rottweiler. I was willing to give their products another chance, since they have a reputation for standing behind their products. This time I saved both my receipt and the original packaging. Ben destroyed the Booda “Dogzilla” in 20 minutes. I have to admit, when I returned it to PetSmart the next day with my story, I did have a smug attitude.
The Nylabone brand toys I’ve purchased have survived Ben’s “Jaws O’ Death” better any other toy I’ve bought. The Nylabone Rhino Cone is one of my favorites. It’s hollow, so it can be stuffed with treats. The dog has to work to get to the “goods.” It also bounces like that miracle substance from the classic Disney movie “Flubber.” It even bounces on grass. You can have your dog chase this toy in the yard or down a long hallway. Oddly enough, it’s not recommended for strong chewers! But it’s lasted TWO years for us. The Double Action Chew is a recent addition to our toy collection. Tip’s Sit Means Sit [tm] trainer, Luke recommended it. He has an 85 pound American Staffordshire Bulldog bitch who enjoys hers greatly. It has a green, minty flavored middle and multi-globed ends. It is shaped much like a barbell. The boys just adore it. As soon as one of them drops it, the other will pick it up and gnaw on it.
When Ben, came to live with us I purchased a Hartz “Chew ‘n’ Clean.” It has proven to be remarkably durable. Three years worth of grown Lab “Maw of Destruction” chewing has barely made a dent in this cylinder of cogs. Tip enjoys gnawing on it, too. The advertising purports it promotes dental health, but I just use it for fun for the boys.
JW makes two toys with which I have had great success. The first is the “Holee Roller,” a ball that is actually a round webwork. It can be stuffed with huge dog biscuits and rolled along the ground or floor. I also like to recycle old, worn or mismatched socks by tying them through the holes. The holee roller is now the ultimate tug o’ war toy!
My personal favorite of all the toys is the JW Cuz. They make a Good Cuz and a Bad Cuz. These are brightly colored squeaky balls, with feet, made of durable hard rubber. The bad cuz has two small “horns” on the head. They are the loudest, most annoying squeaky balls I have ever heard. That’s part of the fun! The squeeker dies as soon as the dogs determine where, exactly, that noise comes from. They then squeeze and squeeze that area between their jaws until it pops out, or into the ball itself. The feet eventually get torn off. Then it becomes “amputee Cuz.” Other than those two casualties, it is a durable toy. I bought the first , a small size, 6 months ago. It rolls out from under a couch or a bed from time to time. That’s how good these toys are. The boys are still pouncing and chewing vigorously on it. I’ve bought three more since then, but they have all been the large size. They are all still being chewed on.
Their first Tire Biter Paw Tracks with rope was a 6″ size. It lasted about 9 months. The rope came out after about 6 months, but it was still used as a chewable object and the tire was still used as a chew toy and a tug toy, too. Last month I bought a new one since the first one had lasted so long and both boys had enjoyed them. This time I got them one of the 10″ variety, with another rope, of course. This one is not only bigger in diameter, it has deeper, too. As big as the boys’ mouths are they have to open extremely wide to accommodate this toy. Logic tells me this will add to the life of this particular toy. If they can’t get the whole thing in their mouths, they can’t destroy it as quickly.
The chew toys I give my dogs allow them to exercise the need to chew left in their vestigial part of their brains from when they were part of a wolf pack. After all, their Scientific name is Canis lupus familiaris and they are in the Order Carnivora, meaning: meat eating. It takes a lot of chewing to eat raw meat. These chew toys allow them to get rid of all that excess “chew energy.”
