Proper and Appropriate Toys

You will find it very handy and convenient to have a toy box or
basket in each room that the pup spends the majority of it’s time in.

(i.e. Living room, family room, kitchen, bedroom, or the room
where the pup sleeps.) One of these entertainment boxes may not
be needed in all rooms, but certainly the most frequently used
rooms do. Four or five articles in each basket is a good plan. The
puppy needs a variety of textures and sizes to vent out different
areas of canine instinct. For example, soft , plush type toys
simulate small mammals to your puppy. Remove the toys eyes &
noses for safety. If the pup was still with it’s mother instead of
with you, she would be teaching it how to stalk, hunt and even
perhaps ingest small mammals to survive. Those instincts are still
active even though we humans provide them with an expensive,
balanced diet. Therefore by allowing them to have access to furry,
little stuffed toys it enables them to vent this natural instinct.
You may see your puppy stalk or sneak up on this type of toy, then
pounce on it, play with it by tossing it around the floor or through
the air then pounce on it again. They can spend several minutes on
this procedure at one time and literally be having a ball. They will
mouth the object and may even shred it pretending to eat it. If this
happens, remove the article and give him another. Certain breeds
of dogs will exhibit this behavior much more than others, so
experiment a bit with your individual puppy. Most puppies tend to
go through several of these stuffed toys during the teething months
so I suggest picking up several from garage sales, yard sales or
second hand locations to keep the costs down.

Rawhides are a good pacifier until the puppy starts eating them
like candy sticks. When the puppy is under 6 months he probably
will use them up slowly, but once the adult teeth come in, cut back
on the amount you’re allowing him, as this could lead to digestive
problems. Rubber toys in various shapes are available on the
market as well. These come in all shapes and sizes and make super
entertainers. Of course, no toy box is complete without a ball of
some sort in it.


Tennis balls, the orange ball hockey balls, soccer balls, footballs
and big soft baseballs seem to be favorites to the medium to large
size sized breeds. For the smaller breeds, squash balls and tennis
balls seem to be their favorites. Certain breeds like border collies,
labrador and golden retrievers, etc. seem to enjoy Frisbees as toys.
This is not necessarily a favorite of all pups. Without access to the
items mentioned above, your puppy will find his own toys amongst
the families belongings. This could include slippers, mats, shoes,
cushions, couches, chair legs, cushion flooring, woodwork, etc.

We have all heard the horror stories of people coming home to find
that “FIDO” ate through their living room sofa. Why?? Because he
had free access to it, plus a reserve of energy that needed to be
burnt off and no toys were left out for him to devour while mom
and dad were at work.