Kirra has been with us for almost 2 months now and she is thoroughly enjoying both her new and her ‘hand-me-down’ toys. Maya was very specific in the toys she would and would not play with. She enjoyed fetching in water, but very rarely on land. She liked soft toys or treat toys, but wouldn’t play with plastic squeaker toys.
Kirra has yet to see a toy she doesn’t like. As I am writing this, since is laying in her basket playing with the Kong Genius Mike toy, and has been for the last 20 or 30 minutes. It’s great for dogs that need physical AND mental exercise. You can buy the “Leo” version which can attach and make it even more puzzling for intelligent dogs.
Stuffed toys with squeakers are also one of her many favourites. She runs around with them, squeaks them until we want to pull our hair out and lays upside on top of them, for unknown reasons.
These particular stuffed toys have many squeakers in them that will still make a noise after being punctured. They are both ‘hand-me-downs’, as evidenced by the chewed up heads. Maya always chewed off something in the process.
It’s fun watching Kirra take these up and down the stairs because they are quite long, especially the green snake, and she’ll trip and fumble as she goes.
Fetch is another one of the games we play everyday, either during her walk, in the yard or in the house. We bought the soccer ball before we picked her up and it last about 3 or 4 days before she punctured it and started ripping the fabric off the outside. We have since invested in dog specific toys that will post about in the future since they just arrived yesterday and she hasn’t played with them yet.
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- In the yard with the soccer ball.
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- In the livingroom.
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- On the main floor.
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- Up and down the stairs.
For even more exercise, or during days that are too cold or pouring rain, we play catch with her on the staircase. She prefers to chase the ball up the stairs and then bring it back down.
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- Figuring out one of the puzzle toys. She has to spin the top or the bottom star to find treats in each compartment.
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- Rope toys are great to chew and make cool decorations.
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- First attempt at this puzzle toy? Boredom. She gave it a sniff and then laid down beside it and feel asleep. Next time I’ll try better treats.
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- We put a mixture of plain oatmeal, peanut butter and yogurt in a kong and then freeze them. She loves it and it keeps her mind busy.
There are lots of great toys out there for your dog. Figure out what they like and then have a selection. We like to randomly put toys away and introduce either new ones or past ones to keep her interested.
What are your favourite toys? Do you have any recommendations for us? Leave a comment below!
