Town Hall Topic - Toys

Apollo has tennis balls, stuffed animals, kongs (which he barely ever plays with), rope toys and this rubber toy that's like a cylinder with three ropes inside. His favorite toys are the stuffed animals and the rubber toy.

He is very destructive with his toys. If they can be ripped apart, he'll do it...and then he'll ingest the pieces. All of his stuffed animals are covered in duct tape until I give up and throw them out. I got him a big stuffed camel last weekend and it has already been decapitated, and all the stuffing has been removed from it's body.

He does not play nice with his toys at all. The first thing he does when presented with a new toy is to figure out the fastest way to destroy it.

For some reason, he reallllly loves to play fetch (always has since he was a puppy). He will bring a toy over to me and expect me to throw it...reminds me of the dog in Spanglish, it's not a good idea to throw it unless you plan on playing fetch for hours. The only things he really "plays with" on his own are his bones, which he'll just lay down and chew on. Occasionally, he and Big will play tug of war, which is really just Big hanging from the other end of whatever it is they're playing with, while Apollo walks around the room.

When I play with him, I'm forced to play fetch most of the time. I do play tug of war with him sometimes, but it always turns into fetch. When we play fetch I always make him sit before I throw it, and I have him wait until I say "Ok" before he can go get it.

I have only noticed really aggressive behavior with the stuffed animals, but I think that's because they can be more easily destroyed.

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.

[*]How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?

King has more toys than I can remember. Here are some of them. Kong, Kong Ball, Kong Frizbee, Several different large bones, a large pork hide bone, rope, Bottles after im done drinking the water, stuffed animals, football, soccer ball, a "Pup Treadz" tire, lazer pen(well thats for both of us) and my nephew...lol. I probably missed some, but thats all i could think of.

[*]Are they destructive with their toys? How long do they last?

It depends on the toy really. The Kongs(minus frizbee) and tire have lasted well over a year, but the frizbee lasts about a week. His bones last about a week, maybe two. The stuffed animals we call his "baby" because he just carries them around and lays with them.

[*]Do you have a “Serial Stuffie Killer”? (Stuffed toys that are shredded beyond recognition) or do they play with them nicely?

For the most part king just carries them around, but he someties will perform surgery and forget to put it back together...lol.


[*]Do they with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?

King will play with humans, he loves that, but his toys are his toys when it comes to other dogs. WE play fetch with him, we do "play training" as i like to call it. We basically take his toy, and make a game out of him sitting, laying down, speaking, ect. He LOVES that. We also play tug of war with him sometimes.

[*]Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones? [/LIST]

He is only agressive with his toys around other dogs. He has shown no agression to humans when it comes to toys, or food for that matter.

I have the “Serial Stuffie Killer”!!!!!!!! Cedric loves to kill his toys! More than once I have returned to the room to find stuffing strewn from one side to the other......mommy was NOT pleased with her little innocent faced boy with the stuffing stuck all over him.......but he sure looked funny!!!
He does have a few that he hasn't shredded but I'm sure they are on his list of things to do....He has a Souper Nylabone that he likes to chew on and it's to big and hard for him to swallow or destroy, he has a Paw Tracks tire that he likes to play with and a few other things but his favorites are the ones he can rip apart.
I'm sure my Toy Poodles plot against me, they will actually bring things he isn't suppose to have and put them next to Cedrics kennel so he can reach through and pull them into his kennel and destroy them! They brought him a travel pillow a few days ago and he managed to get it squeezed into the kennel and I had stuffing EVERYWHERE!!!!!
Dogs.....I can't live with them and I can't live without them!!!

How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?

Ava has at least five of every toy imaginable except for those vinyl squeaky ones. She has a garbage can sized container that overflows with all the stuff we buy her. Some her her favorite toys are the ones that dispense treats and her giant stuffed snake.



Are they destructive with their toys? How long do they last?

It depends on the toy and if it has a squeaker, it depends on how long the squeaker lasts. Once the squeaker goes, it's all over for the toy.

Do you have a “Serial Stuffie Killer”? (Stuffed toys that are shredded beyond recognition) or do they play with them nicely?

It's common to find limbs of toys around here. Just the other day, I found the ears to a donkey in the kitchen

Do they with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?

She'll play by herself or with Scoob most commonly. However, if she wants to play tug she'll bring one of her ropes over to you to start a game.

Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones?

Nope, she's not aggressive with her toys in any way.

So far Bruno only has a red kong, 3 ropes (well now 1, today the other 2 seen their last days lol But he's had them since he was 7 weeks, now 20 weeks), pork bone and beef bone. He loves all of them. But doesn't pay much attention to the kong....He will play with it for a second or two then leave it. He REALLY loves his rope "bones" tho. He will play with those forever. We also got a rope that had a tennis ball attached to it. He tore the tennis ball in two pretty fast haha. But the rope is half alive still (again we'll be tossing it after today). He needs to get some new ropes.

He's not really that distructive with his toys. But he will rip em apart if he's in the mood. But normally he just plays and chews on the ropes (pretty sure it's because he's teething).

He will play alone, with the kids, or with my husband and I. He rather play tug a war over anything. But will settle to play by himself if no one is in the mood to play ;o)

* How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?
Gracie has kongs, and a few balls. We try not to give her stringy items to much, or stuffed animals.

* Are they destructive with their toys? How long do they last?
She isn't destructive, she just know how to kill her toys. Tennis balls only last a matter of minutes.

* Do you have a “Serial Stuffie Killer”? (Stuffed toys that are shredded beyond recognition) or do they play with them nicely?
I could never say that about her, but yes I have a "Serial Stuffie Killer" Don't tell her I told you though.

* Do they with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?
She plays by her self or with one of us.

* Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones?
Not that I have seen.

* How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?
Hard to say exactly. we have stuffed kongs (footballs, and cubes - they were Cody's preferred toy and I stillhaven't had the heart to throw them out or to give them to Apollo) Cody also loved plastic bottles they made such a great sound when he chewed them - we would put a few pieces of gravel in one and he would play fetch for hours outside with cuz of the noise. His all time fave was a plastic saucer that could be unscrewed and treats or pb or anything put in. he figured out how to unscrew it pretty quick.

Apollo on the other hand loves a nice squeaky toy. we got him one on the way home last weekend and in short order he ripped off the arms, lets and tail, but is still playing with the body - it may have been a mouse hard to say now - we have been shopping with the boy this weekend and yester day he was given a braided bully stick at one petstore which he LOVES. But is smells so bad, I had to take it away at least for a day or two.

and we got more squeaky toys - (Anyone still surprised that he has a raving case of SRD?) :jokersmil :jokersmil


* Are they destructive with their toys? How long do they last?

one week and it is still partially here - still squeaking tho

* Do you have a “Serial Stuffie Killer”? (Stuffed toys that are shredded beyond recognition) or do they play with them nicely?

will have to let you know

* Do they with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?

both fetch, hide & seek, and him alone

* Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones? I haven't seen any agressive behavior in him at all. Cody on occaision wouldn't let you take his toys, but mostly was fine about it.


cc

How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?

Duchess has...
Kongs
Balls
some good squeeker toys
frisbee
various rubber shaped toys (a tug toy of connected hoops, a "DNA string", a screwball with sprial ends)

Are they destructive with their toys? How long do they last?

The only toys that she is destructive with is anything soft, plush, stuffed etc...and anything that has the tennis ball material...she pops and peels every tennis ball especially the slightly oversized ones.

Do you have a “Serial Stuffie Killer”? (Stuffed toys that are shredded beyond recognition) or do they play with them nicely?

she does kill all her stuffed toys...once she got to big for them. She use to have a big stuffed plush ball that she would nurse and fall asleep with in her mouth...like this...SHE LOVED IT SOOOO MUCH! but she always manages to make a hole and then she gets the stuffing...we stopped giving stuffed toys to her once she grew to big and would put holes in them...I don't think she would BRUTALLY kill them...she would slowly torture them instead


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?

She likes to have her slightly oversized tennis balls to herself...but I guess "Keep away" counts as a game right? she will sometimes just enjoy squeeking or popping a toy with a jaws repeatedly...or throw the kong down the stairs and try to get the treat out by herself...but she also likes to play with us. She will sometimes as us to get the treat out of the kong by putting it on our lap and looking at us. We play fetch in the house as long as she is willing to "give" the toy lol. She likes to play frisbee with us.

Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones?
Only certain ones. I wouldnt call it Aggression...just being stubborn. With her oversized tennis balls...she will pee if we try to take it away from her. She will growl...then pee...but she would never bite us.
...it is like that one toy takes over her mind! cause once you take it away she snaps out of it and is fine lol.

GKar has ropes, stuffed, squeaky and balls. His favorite is a rubber squeaky that has a ball on one end and a handle for playing tug and fetch.

We go thru a lot of his rubber squeaky ball because it is played with the most and when both of us put our weight into tug the hadle tends to come off. His fluffy toys last a long time. He is almost five now and he still has a small teddy bear I got for him when he was about 2 months old.

He is not really a SSK. He does more shaking than ripping when he plays by himself and the toys are usually not damaged. Every once in a while he will rummage thru his toy basket and dig out an old stuffed toy and pull the stuffing out but he normally does not rip arms or heads off.

GKar either plays with me or buy himself when toys are involved.

GKar has shown toy aggresion a few times but only to other dogs and only with a particular toy. We have worked on this and have not seen any instances of this in about a year.

How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?

Currently Chihiro is only allowed to have Kongs and Nylabone toys all the time. She has a frisbee and several tennis balls but those are kept put up and we use them for exercise and training several times a week. She LOVES ropes toys but she doesn't just shred them, she eats them too and I worry about her ending up in the ER for surgery because of a blockage.

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?

She is so a "serial stuffie killer". A stuffed toy will last her maybe 15 minutes before it's shredded and half digested!


Do they with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?

LOL we let her chew on her toys by herself but strongly discourage her from playing with them by herself. We made the fatal error of buying her the kong on the nylon rope, she slung it half way across the room and just about took out the computer monitor! But I do play hide and seek, tug and fetch with her pretty much daily.

Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones?

Chi isn't even close to being toy aggressive but watch out for Petri!

How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?

They have a "toy box" to dig through. Kongs, Lots of squeaky toys (The rubber ones), a few ropes (only the large sturdy ones) I learned pretty well with my Boxer what to avoid.

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?

Rommel, Not so much...My boxer.....She could shred a stuffed toy quicker than you could take the price tag off!


Do they with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?

Rommel has surprised me. He is very content playing alone or with his "sister". But if he has a toy......she wants it, and vice versa. If any other dogs come around (they have lots of doggy friends that come visit) it seems like Piper plays with the other dog, and Rommel will just be somewhere close by chewing on his bone or kong.

Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones?

I wouldn't say "aggressive" But they love to play keep away. No growling or anything.

* How many different types of toys do they have? (Kong’s, ropes, balls, stuffed ) What are their favorite ones?

Nikita has every type of toy you can imagine. I can't walk out of petsmart without buying a few toys each visit. She has many favorites for different situations. When playing by herself, she likes her Bad Cuz, rings, stuffies, rope types, and rubber one. There are very few she doe not touch anymore. With playing with us, its balls and frisbees to play fetch. The long rope like toys for playing tug.

* Are they destructive with their toys? How long do they last?

She is very destructive with her toys. She's a big chewer and would make a great toy tester for the dog companies. Some toys need more supervision than others. The rope toys seem to get destroyed very quickly, very sharp teeth. Uusally we see wear on any new toy within a day of her getting it.

* Do you have a “Serial Stuffie Killer”? (Stuffed toys that are shredded beyond recognition) or do they play with them nicely?

I have a serial stuffie Killer. Its not as bad as its been in the past. She has about 12 notches on her collars for each one killed beyond recognition. She has 4 left that she gets only under supervision. They are mostly missing appendages like arms, ears, etc. Its really cute to watch her play with them, but nothing seems to hold up to the torture she can inflict.

* Do they with the toys by themselves or do they play with you or other dogs? If you play with them, What games do you play?

She will play with her toys alot by herself. She also will play tug with other dogs. With us, she loves fetch and frisbee too much. We can do this for hours. You can see her frisbee antics in this thread. http://www.dobermantalk.com/showthread.php?t=476

* Have you seen any toy aggressive behaviors with all toys or only with certain ones?

I have not seen any aggressive behavior when she plays with other dogs. Even when we play fetch at the dog park, if another dog goes for the ball, se will let them get it. If they don't bring it back, she'll follow them around until they drop it and she grabs it to continue our game.