The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Dogs => Topic started by: SallyintNorth on November 04, 2019, 03:39:15 pm
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My little collie Dot is very playful in the house - but can destroy most toys within minutes. She loves Raggers, and overall they will last quite a while because she will keep going until they are literally shredded, and I indulge her and just keep sweeping up ::) - but the cotton strings start coming off them within ten minutes!
She has a black Kong, but she doesn’t play with it much because it’s too far the other way and offers her no real hope of destruction! (Maybe I should get her the medium, it’s the second largest she has.)
She has a deer antler; those do give her many hours of enjoyment before it’s too small and I have to take it off her. And I get her raw knuckle bones every now and again. Each knuckle will last her four to five days before it’s too small and I have to take it off her.
I recently decided to try a Kong Tire, and after reading reviews decided on the smaller (medium/large dog - up to 65lbs; Dot is 15kgs). She’s on her third session with it now and it’s a huge hit. She can get her mouth around it in many different ways, so it offers her the hope of being able to bite a chunk off it, but so far (after nearly two hours very determined chewing overall), it is completely unmarked. It’s a good throw toy too.
I bought a Kong black bone at the same time, but haven’t tried her with that yet as the Tire is still greeted with a waggy tail each time I get it out for her. I’ll alternate them once she’s a bit less excited with the Tire.
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The original kong has a hole in it - ideal for stuffing something tasty but almost impossible to reach to give the dog a longer-term challenge (swap it out if it gets too stinky)
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My dog destroys most dog toys or tennis balls in seconds (fortunately he never found the furniture or other furnishings attractive) and the only thing we'd found that lasts a while is a Kong Extreme, in one size up from the him-appropriate one (the vet advised that, so he can't get his jaws round it as effectively which stops him exerting maximum force). Peanut butter inside keeps him amused for hours. For ball games, the only thing that works is a hard plastic ball that again is too big for him to get his jaws round; a good game of doggy football can be had with that. He's now really good at dribbling (in the footie sense)!
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Dot loves food but isn’t very food oriented, if that makes any sense. I tried smearing tasty gunk around inside her original Kong but she wasn’t interested. It almost seemed to make the toy less appealing to her somehow.
The Tire is also designed to hide treats, inside the rim. And the Kong bone, which I haven’t given to her yet, has treat holes in the knobbly ends too.
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I tried the Nerf range of toys, the pup has already destroyed three of them. I'll be sticking with Kong toys, that said, he did rip apart his knot rope.
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A good thing about Kongs which you can stuff food pastes into is that you can put them in the dishwasher if you have one; or put them in boiling water if not
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Chuckit balls are also good. There's a diagram on amazon showing which types are the most durable. Our dog plays with them all the time and hasn't put a mark in one yet.
Not cheap though, so a bit troubling when you lose one.
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The original kong has a hole in it - ideal for stuffing something tasty but almost impossible to reach to give the dog a longer-term challenge (swap it out if it gets too stinky)
Out mutt " Merle" first cross goldie mum , blue merle welsh mountain sheepdog sire trashed a standard kong in about 40 minutes . Got him the king Kong wiped it with a smear of butter .. it lasted just over the hour . Stopped buying them after King Kong number four .
Found the rolled dried pig skin " bones " sorted him he gave up on each new one .
Since we gave him a 2x3 foot pieces of green vet bedding ( buy it online in a big roll & I cut it up & de-fluff the edges ) he's quietened down , nibbles the vet bed quite badly sometimes . It used to be rare for us to have enough left to be able to wash it after three week of use. Now aged 9 yrs old he's a bit more considerate and they can be washed at least once after three weeks use.
Some he actually swallows as evidenced in his poops our vet says as long as he poops once a day it won't be blocking him up .
What we have found is that since he has come off any wheat based & meat based round pelleted feed & gone over to fish & rice pellets his anxiety and chewing has reduced 10 fold . He's a lot calmer and even at his ripe old age is starting to learn new voice commands and to string one or two together
" Merle Pick bed , bed lounge " for instance is his latest success.
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I bought my 6 month old Jack Russell Daisy a Kong bone shaped toy on Friday from Pets at Home. It lasted less than 30 mins. The other dogs never managed to destroy a Kong but Daisy goes through toys like nothing on earth. I have found nothing so far that last any time.
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My dog destroyed a 'Kong Squeezz' squeaker in 15mins.
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I recently decided to try a Kong Tire, and after reading reviews decided on the smaller (medium/large dog - up to 65lbs; Dot is 15kgs). She’s on her third session with it now and it’s a huge hit. She can get her mouth around it in many different ways, so it offers her the hope of being able to bite a chunk off it, but so far (after nearly two hours very determined chewing overall), it is completely unmarked. It’s a good throw toy too.
Tire still very much the favourite toy, she plays - that is, we play :) - with it most days and often spends half an hour chewing away on it. It is still unmarked :)