Best Toys for Dogs - Things to Consider Before Buying Toys for Pets

Dogs love toys. Pet stores offer a wide range of toys for dogs while online stores make you spoilt for choice. Let us have a look at some of the best toys for dogs.

Going through the seemingly endless collections of toys for furry pals, it makes me wonder if  it is pet parents who love toys for pets more than it being the other way round.

Why Should You Buy Toys for Your Dog?

Contrary to what some people believe, toys are not luxury but a necessity to your pet member. 

Dogs love to play with toys. Playing with toys helps to keep them from getting bored. Toys can be a great comfort to dogs when they are nervous.

Toys keep dogs engaged and their senses stimulated. 

Toys help to address certain behavioural problems in dogs.

How to Buy The Right Toys for Your Pets

Before buying toys for your pet member, you may want to consider a few things. However, first things first. Never present your dogs toys made for human child as those toys are not designed keeping in mind how pets would handle them. So the possibility of choking and consuming substances that may be toxic to pets exist. 

Here are few other important factors to consider:

1) Ensure Safety

Just like you would buy toys for your human child, you need to consider the safety aspects before buying toys for your pet member. Here are a few aspects to look out for:

• Choking hazard is common in dogs and hence go for the size that is good enough for your pet to hold in her mouth but big enough not to cause your dog to choke.
• Any toy with sharp edges has to be avoided as it can harm your pet pal. Avoid ornamental toys such as toys with ribbon, frills etc.
• No parts of the toy should be small enough to cause choke. Even a big sized toy can have a small part that your pet can pull off to chew or bite like in case of a squeaky toy. But most of the dogs love squeaky toys. Hence, if you must buy squeaky toy for your dog, ensure that the part does not come off.

As far Chezhi is concerned, her first toy was a very simple cloth toy, the one that was made at home. She loved it and used to bring it  for tug play. Sometimes, she would 'hide' somewhere with her toy when she realizes she had done some sort of messing.

Was I caught in action?

2) Consider Your Dog's Age

Rope toys can be a great choice for puppies and adult dogs but some toys are age-specific, like soft and hard toys. Soft toys for puppies and senior dogs and hard toys for adult dogs would make a good choice. Toys made of hard materials can cause damage to your puppy's teeth. Soft toys would be right for senior dogs as the strength of their jaws may be reduced.

Family gave me soft toy but still...

Hope you don't mind lending this to me for mouthing, do you dad?

3) Know Your Dog's Personality

We naturally would not want to make any mistake while buying toys for our pets. Best toys for dogs would be those that also fit well with their personality. An aggressive chewer would not find a soft toy appealing and a chaser may not be inclined for an idle play with a plush toy. So will a gentle dog not want to have anything to do with a strong toy. And of course, no squeaky toys for anxious dogs.

4) Know the Material Your Dog Toy is Made of

It is not uncommon to hear about toxic substances in dogs' toys. Dog toys meant for chewing and mouthing are mostly made of plastic, which contains bisphenol A and phthalates, which disrupt endocrine functions. According to a study, dogs that play with such toys are exposed to endocrine disruptors. Hence, making an informed decision while buying toys for dogs will ensure safe playtime for your pet. Some of the factors you may want to consider while buying toys for pets include:

• if the toys are made of 100% natural rubber
• if those toys are made of eco-friendly materials
• and if they are BPA-free toys

May be this as well, which is 100% eco-friendly?

Best Toys for Dogs

It is quite easy to get tempted looking at the various types of toys for dogs. Here are some of the best toys for dogs:

• Training toys including rope toys for tug play
• Ball toys
• Chew toys
• Plush toys
• Puzzle toys
• Fetch type toys
• Squeaky toys
• Last, but not the least, treat-dispenser toys.

More on each of these types of dogs for toys in future posts.