$30 - 3 Toys - 30 Minutes

[Jenn]

I buy wheelbarrow tires from TSC. The roll or throw, and last for months and months. Ben can destroy a toy in no time, and broke open a coconut but it took him a week or so. Next time I buy a tire, I'm going to get a jolly ball for the fun of it. Here's to hoping it last longer than a few hours!

So, does coconut come out of carpet, or should I wait to get one until we get a backyard? I could definately see Reno breaking a coconut open, no joke.

A tire actually sounds good... I might try one of those too. The real thing, though, right? Not one of those pet store ones?

To tell you the truth, I have no idea if coconut will come out of a carpet. They play outside, and outside only ~ the coconut was broke open in the driveway, and I took it away because I read it could cause the runs. No thanks!!
The tire, yes the real thing. His is actually in my new avatar.. (Thanks Michelle!) You have to be sure your getting a rubber and rubber only tire, no metal!! A lawnmower tire, wheelbarrow(sp?) tire is what I purchase. When he had my spring pole creation I used a bicycle tire, . The ones at the pet store are destroyed in no time with him.

[ellie@ny]

I've read about blockages and about things getting stuck in their stomachs and chewing. This is why we supervise. He WILL let us take pieces out of his mouth.
I also believe in letting kids eat dirt, play with bugs, and not wrapping everything in bubble wrap. I dunno... just how I was raised, I guess.

As I said I didn't meant to offened you...!I'm just talking from experience...I grow up as a real kid too,but eating bugs or rubber pieces is a big differences...

Also, he only seems to play with his toys when we're home. I know this, because when I leave in the morning, I put all his stuff in his toy basket, and they're still there when I get home....Sorry I had to ask this,who supervising him at that time? He does have toys that he just cannot have all of the time, and those we only bring out for him when we're outside or in the country, so he doesn't chew them all up.
I'm not going to refuse him his toys because he destroys them. It makes him happy, helps his teeth and gums, gives him exercise and gives us something to use when we play with him.
So.... what do you play with with your dogs? Do you give yours any toys? Have you found any that hold up better?.

Well first of all leaving a young dog in the house when you not home,without crating that's another thing...I could share too many stories with you what can happen to your dog.
And you ask about what my dogs playing with?Well they can play with me when I train them,they can play with each other sometime,and I'm sure to keep them well excercised,is the best for them.We go out for a long walk in the morning,they rest after that in the crate until I'm home,then excercise again,training,etc.I'm sure if I let them out when I'm not home my apt would be in pieces...Trust me,I tried once,and they were only in the kitchen and the hallway....
I would say if you have a backyard set up a springpole for your dog he will be 10 times happier to use that,than eating things he should't.

[04100824]

He is left free to roam in our apartment. He hasn't eaten anything or used the bathroom in our house while we're at work. Also, his toys are almost always where I left them.

We're in an apartment for now - no backyard. In the evenings, we have a 4-mile run or walk we do with him, or we take him to a tennis court to run. On weekends we try to take him to the country to run. These are the times he's allowed to play with the toys he'd completely destroy otherwise. I have people over all the time who love him, and these are the times his rope toys usually get destroyed - when he's playing with my friends and my husband or I am around to watch.

Aside from this, I don't think anything I'd say to you at this point would accomplish anything other than giving myself a solid case of CTS, so I'm going to leave it alone. If I felt that my actions were going to harm my baby in any way, then I wouldn't do it.

[ellie@ny]

He is left free to roam in our apartment. He hasn't eaten anything or used the bathroom in our house while we're at work. Also, his toys are almost always where I left them.

We're in an apartment for now - no backyard. In the evenings, we have a 4-mile run or walk we do with him, or we take him to a tennis court to run. On weekends we try to take him to the country to run. These are the times he's allowed to play with the toys he'd completely destroy otherwise. I have people over all the time who love him, and these are the times his rope toys usually get destroyed - when he's playing with my friends and my husband or I am around to watch.

Aside from this, I don't think anything I'd say to you at this point would accomplish anything other than giving myself a solid case of CTS, so I'm going to leave it alone. If I felt that my actions were going to harm my baby in any way, then I wouldn't do it.

Oh, It was ONLY MY OPINION!!!!!!You do with your dog what you like to do!!!If you think that's good for him,don't stop it! It's your life,your dog,your decission!

[SisMorphine]

Halo is a mad chewer and destroyer so he gets no toys. Period. He can play with a tennis ball for his reward for training, otherwise he gets raw marrow bones and occassionally a kong (if I'm out of marrow bones). Like Ellie, I do not find it in the least bit cute when he tears up (Wally's) toys. He had torn up two the other day while I was out and my friend was watching him (she didn't know he wasn't allowed stuffed toys, and didn't notice him tearing them up). When I got home he went and picked up a stuffed toy in front of me and BOY OH BOY did he get the Voice Of God. He now sidesteps around the stuffed toys like they bite. Not sure how long this will last, though.

I prefer my non-stuffy ripper. The only times Wally has ever chewed innapropriately were on a CD case and a remote, both were lying next to him while I was on the computer and not paying attention and he was throwing a hissy fit (this was when I first got him . . . he absolutely does not throw hissy fits like that anymore). They only got some teeth marks in the edges, still fully functioning to this day.

PS: As a kid I was not allowed to play in the dirt or eat bugs or any of that stuff. I think we had our clothing changed about 50 times a day to keep perfectly clean. I don't think I'm any worse for that way of life either To each his own.

[SisMorphine]

Oh, forgot to add:

I believe we very much bring up our dogs the way that we had been brought up as children. If I was dirty or broke a toy that was a very very very bad thing. Respect your clothes and respect your toys, otherwise they would get taken away (and not replaced ever). So I do take that same approach with my dogs, as I would if I had skin kids.

And I know friends who were allowed to get filthy and stay that way all day if they wanted, or who were allowed to write in their Berenstain Bear books or break toys with just a minor scolding if any. Again, they're still good people today. Just a different philosphy in bringing up kids . . . just like the different philosophies in bringing up dogs.

[dogcrazyjen]

If you have a fenced in yard with no flower beds, a bowling ball is a great toy!

[rockermom]

a real wheel from TSC GREAT IDEA, Im getting one. Someone said they hung it spring pole like. I may like to try that. How do you do it from a tree? A tree might work for me. I am a new dog owner and need to be educated on how to do these kind of things. I am also a stay at home mom and need things to keep Rocky busy as I go about my daily chores and stuff.

[mnp13]

Spring pole setup

http://www.pitbulltalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=616

[04100824]

He is left free to roam in our apartment. He hasn't eaten anything or used the bathroom in our house while we're at work. Also, his toys are almost always where I left them.

We're in an apartment for now - no backyard. In the evenings, we have a 4-mile run or walk we do with him, or we take him to a tennis court to run. On weekends we try to take him to the country to run. These are the times he's allowed to play with the toys he'd completely destroy otherwise. I have people over all the time who love him, and these are the times his rope toys usually get destroyed - when he's playing with my friends and my husband or I am around to watch.

Aside from this, I don't think anything I'd say to you at this point would accomplish anything other than giving myself a solid case of CTS, so I'm going to leave it alone. If I felt that my actions were going to harm my baby in any way, then I wouldn't do it.

Oh, It was ONLY MY OPINION!!!!!!You do with your dog what you like to do!!!If you think that's good for him,don't stop it! It's your life,your dog,your decission!

I'm not taking offense.

[rockermom]

Whoa those are some set ups those spring poles. I like the last one.

[SpiritFngrz]

I don't like ropes either.
The black kong (not the red) has held up pretty well...

Satin likes her stuffed toys, plain and simple. She will rip all the stuffing out but not eat it. She spits it out. She tries to get the squeaker out and when she does I throw it away and sew the stuffed animal back up so she can have more fun.
As I've said before, beaver is her favorite, she treats it like her baby



I think she gets the biggest kick out of carrying it around.
She also likes her squirrel (ripped the tail off), Bugs Bunny (body is empty), and her green doggie (has no nose-she ripped it off and spit it out)

Beaver has been with us for almost a year and she is fairly uninjured

[04100824]

I got him a coconut! I asked the guy at the store if they had coconuts... it took myself, that guy and 2 other epople to find them, and I got kind of a funny look from the guy who worked there when I told him it was for my dog LOL!

Well... Reno seemed to like it a lot! He played with it for at least an hour.

I'll have to try a wheelbarrow tire once we move and have a backyard.

[rockermom]

I want to get a coconut too. What did he do with it? Did he rip all the husk stuff off or did it not have the husk stuff?

[04100824]

I want to get a coconut too. What did he do with it? Did he rip all the husk stuff off or did it not have the husk stuff?

He chewed on it, pushed and batted it all over my living room, pounced on it, and chewed some more. He ripped off most of the longer strings, but it's still in one pretty good solid piece!

I got him the largest, most rounded one they had in the hopes that he wouldn't break it too quickly, and it seemed to work! he can pick it up, but he doesn't seem to like to, so I'm hoping that it'll last a bit longer this way ~ it seems like it will make it harder for him to chew all up.

I definately learned that it's better to wash them off before you give it to them! I let him play with it for awhile, and took it up and washed it once I realized it was getting dirt all over my carpet! After I scrubbed it a little bit and rinsed it off, it was fine.

YAY for cheap ($1.67), durable toys!

[rockermom]

Cool!! Cheap is good. I will try to get one later today. Will be outside toy. Another durable toy I found is lacrosse balls. But be carefull hurts like hell if you get hit with them. They are hard but bounce.

[04100824]

My sister plays LAX. I never realized how cool those balls were until I went to a sports store and actually picked one up once. A second hand shop was selling brand new ones for a little more than a dollar, and they're basically the same thing as a Kong ball I got him (that he never plays with) only smaller. Looked like they'd be perfect!

[GSDBulldog]

Get a bunch of coconuts from the grocery for for like $2. The dogs shred 'em, and them knock 'em around the house. The only time Howie's ever cracked one was when he "picked it up" in his forepaws & knocked in on the sidewalk.

Tractor tires work great too, generally one should remove the rim but I didn't as I couldn't figure out how . Howie still loves it nonetheless.

Bowling balls (When outside) work great to, as do "Boomer Balls", small barbells, and empty two-liter bottles.

I stopped going to PetCo for toys, now I just hit up Home Depot

[Malli]

I haven't had time to read nearly this whole thread, I've been away from my computer (having it fixed) and just got off night shift.

however

Why not just get kong or marrow bone

I read this. I'm not making it personal here but I read again and again that people think its ok to give a dog a bone.

I just finished picking walnut sized pieces of bones out of dog poop at work last night (we have to collect the foreign body if it happens to make it out on it's own) the dog had been hospitalized for at least 1.5 days wich is not cheap and was about a day away from exploratory foreign body surgery.

My own dog developed an abscess from a bone or stick fragment (he had been known to chip off small pieces of bone but I never thought anything of it) wich began from the inside of his esophagus/trachea and worked through the body out, the surgery and medical costs surrounding that ran me darn near 1 k and I almost lost my dog.

I just wanted to point out that it really depends on the dog and nothing is sure fire safe.

Malli

[mnp13]

Just curious - were these raw bones that caused the problems?

You have to know your dog and what you are giving them. The cow ribs I gave mine were too thick for easy eating and too thin for knawing. They splintered badly. The veal ribs are so soft that they just chew them up.