How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed) What are their favorite ones?
Darmok and Sasha have a toybox with lots of different toys to suit their different moods of play. They have red kongs,tennis balls,rubber ring toys, knobby-bumpy rubber toys,and a few stuffies & rope toys.
Are they destructive with their toys? How long do they last?
Do you have a “Serial Stuffie Killer”? (Stuffed toys that are shredded beyond recognition) or do they play with them nicely?
Sasha is extremely destructive w/ toys. The first thing she does is rip it apart to tear out the insides, or if it's rubber or plastic, she holds it with her front feet and chews it apart with her back & side teeth. She will spit out some pieces, and will eat some pieces. Ropes always turn into a mountain of strings, then she eats the strings! I try to keep rope toys to a minimum, and always watch for that point that they need to be tossed away.
Darmok is not a destroyer. She still has a stuffed toy doberpup we bought her when she was 10 weeks old, and she has had it for 3 years! I have had to sew it back together many, many times! She sleeps with it, and holds it in her mouth and almost goes into a "trance" just holding it there! It's really funny to watch her do that! Dar's favorite toys have to be 'put up' out of Sasha's reach. Dar also likes stuffed toys that talk. Her favorite is a Tickle Me Elmo that I picked up at a garage sale that talks and shakes when she bites on it!
Do they play with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?
Dar and Sasha dont normally play with toys together, because it will eventually turn into an argument! They both get ahold of the same thing, and stand their ground, each one expecting the other to let go. Then come the growls, then the loud growls, then Dad steps in and growls "DROP IT", so end of game! Sasha likes to play tug with me, and will fetch and bring back a ball over and over. She also will play with the Rattie pup, and plays hard, but is still careful not to hurt her. Dar will play tug with me, but her favorite thing to play with me is "pick it up" where I drop anything from my keychain to my cell phone, and she runs to pick it up and hand it to me. It's all a game to her, so we do it a lot! Sasha and Dar LOVE to wrestle with each other, which does not involve a toy at all.
Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones?
Usually any new toy is up for grabs and my two will both want the same one at first. I never introduce just one new toy--they come in pairs or multiples so they dont have to argue over them.