What Kind of Dog Toys should you buy?

Everyone is aware of the standard chew toys and tugging styles of dog toys. Generally dog owners like these as they allow the dog to chew as much as it want and wear him out. But have you considered toys that stimulate a dog's mind as well as teeth?

Boredom is often the cause of a lot of bad behavior with dogs, such as chewing furniture, digging holes, or constant barking. Dog toys, by alleviating the boredom, may help alleviate the problem.

Dog Psychology and Dog Toys

Dogs like to work, and play, and be involved. They need exercise every day, and don't' like to be left on their own. As the dog's owner, it's your job to see to your dog's needs.

They are pack animals and therefore need structure and interactions. For a pet dog, that means you are the pack. You need to care for your dog's mental health and that involves more than locking the dog out in the yard with chew toys.

Choose dog toys that can stimulate your dog's mind, or he will take his boredom out on your furniture, among other things. Here are some choices for toys that will improve your dog's playtime while indoors, and give him a change of pace from the usual fetch, tug of war, and chew toys.

Hide and Seek Dog Toys

To amuse both you and your dog, and satisfy your dog's hunting instincts, consider dog toys that with an animal and a place for it to hide will. You stuff the toy in its toy hiding place, and your dog must root it out.

Does your dog destroy his dog toys? This may be the perfect toy for him. He can destroy it over and over without actually destroying it. These dog toys have built in squeakers, so you can get your dog excited before setting him on his mission.

These are great toys for smaller dogs (under forty pounds), especially terriers. Terriers, named for their digging, will love digging the toys out. These dog toys will also make your dog smarter by encouraging him to figure out how to get the dog toys out of their hiding place.

Hidden Egg Dog Toys

Alternatively, there are dog toys available with squeaky eggs in their stomach. They operate on the same principle; your dog practices gutting his prey, and his prey-your dog toys-live to be gutted another day.

Dog Toys With Rewards Inside Give Your Dog A Sense of Accomplishment

Dogs are often quite content to sit and chew their toys. These toys won't give your dog a sense of accomplishment, though. For that, consider dog toys with built in reward systems.

Toys with treats in them give your dog a challenging puzzle to solve, that presses their instinctual buttons and rewards them at the end with a dog treat. An example is a plastic cube with treats inside which the dog must find a way to get out of the cube. The cube is also adjustable, so as your dog figures out how to get the treats out, you can make it harder so he won't get bored.

There are also rubber balls that help clean your dog's teeth when he plays with them. The grooves he bites into stimulate the gums and clean the teeth, and dispense treats or kibble. These chew toys come in various sizes for different breeds of dog, and also come in different degrees of density so you can adjust for the destructiveness of your dog's chewing ability.

Dog Toys That Help Your Dog Maintain An Active Mind

All the toys described above have the special ability to stimulate your dog's mind as well as can your dog as the task is completed. This provides mentally stimulating play for your dog, which can help keep them from being bored, and a contented, tired dog is less likely to destroy everything you own by chewing it.

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