Too old to play??

dobebailey · 08-07-2008, 04:09 PM

This may be a very silly question, but since this is the first dog I've owned I'm not sure of the answer....Do dogs ever get too old to play with toys? Bailey, who's only 4, doesn't seem interested in anything but her rawhide bones, and some other flavored bone I got her. I throw a ball a billion times and she just looks at it, she doesn't play with her Kong (empty or filled with peanut butter), and she doesn't play with the chew rope I got her. I'm afraid she's bored. Am I just not making it fun for her to play with these things or do I need to get better toys??

**avalonandon** · 08-07-2008, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobebailey

This may be a very silly question, but since this is the first dog I've owned I'm not sure of the answer....Do dogs ever get too old to play with toys? Bailey, who's only 4, doesn't seem interested in anything but her rawhide bones, and some other flavored bone I got her. I throw a ball a billion times and she just looks at it, she doesn't play with her Kong (empty or filled with peanut butter), and she doesn't play with the chew rope I got her. I'm afraid she's bored. Am I just not making it fun for her to play with these things or do I need to get better toys??

From my experience it is more about boredom than age. Have you tried rotating the toys - leaving a couple out for a few days and then putting them up and pulling out others - maybe 3 or 4 different sets? My boy gets bored with the same toys but if I say the words "do you want a new 'it's mine?' " (what I say during tug-of-war) HE FLIPS! I keep a garbage bag of still living stuffies lol, and pull another for its death sentence every couple of days. This and rotating his bones and balls, keep him happy. Last nite he got the major zoomies with the new "its mine".

EDIT - the other thing is some dogs just dont like certain toys. Its trial and error.

dobebailey · 08-07-2008, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avalonandon

From my experience it is more about boredom than age. Have you tried rotating the toys - leaving a couple out for a few days and then putting them up and pulling out others - maybe 3 or 4 different sets? My boy gets bored with the same toys but if I say the words "do you want a new 'it's mine?' " (what I say during tug-of-war) HE FLIPS! I keep a garbage bag of still living stuffies lol, and pull another for its death sentence every couple of days. This and rotating his bones and balls, keep him happy. Last nite he got the major zoomies with the new "its mine".

EDIT - the other thing is some dogs just dont like certain toys. Its trial and error.

I'll try to get some other toys..I was scared to get stuffed animals for fear she would choke on the cotton if she tore it open. Maybe I just need to be a little more enthusiastic when we do have play time, and not expect her to absolutely love every toy I bought..no matter how expensive. LOL!

**voodoolizard** · 08-07-2008, 04:32 PM

you just have to find the right toy i think.

zeus hates ball, missy loves it !!

zeus prefers it if you bounce the ball so it goes high and he can jump and flip over LOL

also a good one is throw it on the roof and wait for it to fall and see if the dobe can catch it LOL

the latest thing my 2 love is to come on a bike ride with me !!

**avalonandon** · 08-07-2008, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobebailey

I'll try to get some other toys..I was scared to get stuffed animals for fear she would choke on the cotton if she tore it open. Maybe I just need to be a little more enthusiastic when we do have play time, and not expect her to absolutely love every toy I bought..no matter how expensive. LOL!

Well, definitely supervise until you see how she plays with the stuffies. Sebastian tears everything out of them and leaves it for me to pick up. The fun part for him is pulling it out, not eating it. The other thing is that stuffies are very expensive to just let them destroy so I got mine free through the freecycle network The Freecycle Network . I got 3 whole garbage bags full 6 months ago...almost out of them lol.

dobes4me · 08-07-2008, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobebailey

Do dogs ever get too old to play with toys? Bailey, who's only 4, doesn't seem interested in anything but her rawhide bones, and some other flavored bone I got her.

I don't think dogs ever get too old to play with toys. My red girl, Abby, played with her toys all the way up until the time we had to put her down at 12 years 8 months. She loved her stuffed toys (especially the ones that made animal sounds). I've found that some dogs, believe it or not, just don't like toys or don't like certain toys. My parent's border collie mix is one of those dogs that isn't really into toys (she'd rather chase shadows outside...yes, strange dog). And Indy loves most toys, except for Kongs, so again, I think it just depends on the dog.

Also, when Indy's stuffed toys tear, I actually end up sewing them. And if the squeaker goes dead, I buy new squeakers and put them in the old toys. After all, what fun is a stuffed toy without a squeaker!

P.S. Thanks avalonandon for the link to the Freecycle Network. I had never heard of it, but think it's a great idea!

Murreydobe · 08-07-2008, 04:59 PM

Sometimes it depends on the finding the "right" toy. Sometimes lack of enrichment and opportunity at an early age results in a dog who literally doesn't know what to do with toys. It's not that they're too old, they just never had them before.

dobebailey · 08-07-2008, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Murreydobe

Sometimes it depends on the finding the "right" toy. Sometimes lack of enrichment and opportunity at an early age results in a dog who literally doesn't know what to do with toys. It's not that they're too old, they just never had them before.

I wondered about that. I think I'll search around for differents kinds of toys and see what happens. Who knows, she may be happy just playing with me!

**avalonandon** · 08-07-2008, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dobebailey

Who knows, she may be happy just playing with me!

I will say that the most intense Sebastian gets is direct play time with me. I do things like hide under the sheets or cover him with them and he tries to get me thru them, chase him in the yard and then he chases me, get on the floor and head butt him or play tug of war, etc - Its very obvious that direct play is what gives him the greatest joy. The bonding is pretty cool too.

dobes4me · 08-07-2008, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avalonandon

I do things like hide under the sheets or cover him with them and he tries to get me thru them

I love hiding under the sheets. It drives Indy absolutely crazy! And it's so funny when you cover them with a blanket and they try to get out but can't. And then they stick their little heads out and it's the most adorable thing!