When we
first got Bruno, we only gave him a rope to play with and whatever old stuffed
animal I had lying around my room. Today, Bruno has a box full of toys to play
with; his toy collection doubled after his birthday. Bruno gets sick of playing with his toys pretty quickly; he’ll probably lose
interest in a new toy after a day or two. Luckily for us, he can go back to old toys he hasn't played with in a while and rotate through them. I want to share with you how I pick out
toys for Bruno and give you a peek into his toy collection.
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| "Hi my name is Bruno and these are my toys" |
One big
mistake I’ve made as Bruno’s mom was giving him my old stuffed animals to play
with. After a few hours of determination, he was able to gnaw off the eyes of my
stuffed animals! If I hadn't caught him, then he would have swallowed those
eyes! So dangerous! So just a heads up guys! Don’t give your fur babies stuffed
animals with plastic eyes to play with!!
I like to
make sure Bruno has a large variety of toys to play with, so whenever I buy a
new toy for him, I would make sure it’s somewhat different than the last.
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| can you guess what is Bruno's favorite color? |
I really like toys that help Bruno clean his teeth, actually I’m not sure if bones are
considered toys; they keep him busy so I’ll consider them toys for this post’s
sake. Bruno has a Nylabone and an antler. Antlers are pretty expensive depending on their size, but they last close to
forever and is totally safe
for dogs to ingest. We used to get Bruno bully sticks to chew on but he goes
through them so quickly, so it makes more sense to get him an antler. My friend, Desiree, recommended the Nylabone to me because her little frenchie, Stanley, loves his. It cleans teeth as your dog is chewing it and it's bacon flavored... yum! The product claims that the green part of the bone keeps your dog's breath minty fresh, but Bruno is always chewing at the ends so I'm not able to see any results on his breath.
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| BACON FLAVORED! |
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| we got this months ago and he's barely finished with it |
For dogs who are RUFF with their toys, I would recommend Extra Tough Dog Toy stuffed animals (I think that's the name of the brand). I've seen them at Muttropolis Fashion Island and Puss & Pooch Long Beach; they are a little expensive but I think they're totally worth it! I think they're made from canvas type materials, but it's still a plush so it won't hurt your pet when they chew on it. It's one of those things where you have to check it out in person and feel the materials yourself.
Petsmart carries Toy Shoppe, which also makes tough toys similar to Extra Tough Dog Toy. We got Bruno this shark plush ($16.99) for his birthday; initially, we wanted to get him a Extra Tough Dog Toy stuffed tiger but it was too expensive for us ($33.00). For now, this will have to do.
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| meet Chomper |
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| meet Ellie the elephant |
For parents who do not want to spend too much on toys, here's something you can make on your own. All you need is a regular sock, a water bottle, and some pennies. Put the pennies into the bottle; take some air out of the bottle (do not flatten it too much) and seal it with the cap; put the bottle into the sock and tie up the end. Your dog will enjoy chewing on the sock covered bottle and the sounds of the coins will keep him interested!
