Toys as Tools for Dogs

People are sometimes surprised to learn that human children need toys. Children use toys as tools for mental, emotional and physical development. Toys fill the same functions for dogs.

Chewing for Dental Health and Stress Reduction

Dogs need to chew. Dogs who search the house for chewing outlets can frustrate owners who are trying to control damage to possessions and injury to dogs. But if you look at these dogs several years later, you often see that their teeth are in better shape than the teeth of dogs who easily gave up puppy chewing. That’s a good reason to encourage puppies and dogs of all ages to chew frequently on suitable toys.

Chewing toys can straighten permanent teeth that have started to come in crooked, and can help baby teeth shed without the need for anesthesia to remove them. Provide the dog with a variety of textures to chew. Notice especially what items of yours the dog seeks out for chewing, and try to provide toys of similar texture. These may be exactly what the dog needs for the teeth at that time.

You’ll notice that dogs who like to chew will often get a toy and settle with it when they are feeling antsy and there’s nothing active for them to do with their energy. They will often chew until they get sleepy and doze off, much like a person reading in bed. Toys also help dogs cope with being left home alone.

One excellent use for toys is to redirect the dog from licking or chewing itself. Teach your dog to “go find a toy,” and chew the toy instead whenever you see the dog licking or biting itself. This can save you and the dog some painful, frustrating and expensive medical problems.

To encourage a dog to chew more, make the chew item more edible. Consult your veterinarian about the safety of any particular food/toy item, and of course be sure it’s not a substance your dog is allergic to or can’t handle due to a medical problem. Some toys, such as the Kong, have a design that allows you to put food inside.

INVEST in toys with your new puppy or dog. Start out with an assortment of textures, keep a variety of textures available to the dog at all times, and bring home new toys frequently. Don’t be cheap about toys. They are tools that your dog needs.

Toy Safety

Different dogs use toys differently. Because of this, we can never say a particular toy is both safe and effective for all dogs. One dog may tear up certain toys too quickly and swallow too much of the torn-up toy. Another dog may tear a toy up slowly, but into BIG pieces, and then swallow things that cannot safely pass through the digestive system.

These chewing behaviors change as time passes, too. A toy the dog previously chewed slowly with plenty of time for you to remove it before it was too torn up; suddenly the dog may become very skilled at chewing that toy up far too quickly. Adding another dog to the household is one thing that can cause the first dog to start swallowing toys faster, competing with the other dog.

Some toys are simply not healthy for a dog to eat, or not healthy for your particular dog to eat. When in doubt, consult your veterinarian.

Dogs have broken teeth on dog toys, and your veterinarian can advise you about that with your particular dog. As dogs learn to quickly destroy softer toys, the logical step is to move up to harder toys, but the potential for breaking teeth must be considered. Harder toys are useless, too, if the dog won’t chew them. Some dogs are only going to chew on something they can taste or get off little bits of the toy to swallow.

They want a payoff for their hard chewing work, and who can blame them?

Generally you’ll want to start your puppy with soft chew items in a variety of textures and watch closely how your puppy uses them. As the puppy moves up in size, strength, and jaw power, you may need to move to toys that require more work before the dog can get pieces off.

It is important to keep the puppy and adolescent dog interested in toys if possible. Not only does this help with dental health and stress relief, but also it forms the lifelong habit of chewing dog toys instead of people’s stuff. The dog’s youth is your golden opportunity to build a healthy and extremely valuable chewing habit.

Toys and Multiple Dogs

Safety also calls for management of toys when you have multiple toys. Scout may have been fine with rawhide, pig’s ears or whatever spread all over the place before you adopted Foxy, but now he resents her grabbing something he considers to be part of his food. Resentment is the least of it, really – pack dynamics often demand of a dog’s instincts that he or she protect that food from other pack members.

Dogs will fight over food and highly desirable toys (which to them are also food) who would never have started fighting for any other reason. But then too often, the fighting continues over other issues even after you’ve improved your toy management.

So, make toy management part of your life when you go from a single dog to multiple dogs – and anytime you add a new dog to the family pack – BEFORE the dogs have to fight it out. Be sure to do it if dogs come to visit, too.

One way to manage is to use those highly desirable toys only when the dogs are physically separated. The new dog will probably be crated whenever you’re not home, and both dogs can have the highly desirable toys when they are separated. Just remember to remove those toys before you reunite the dogs – the dogs WILL remember, and if you don’t do this management, they can get edgy and highly contentious in competing.

To them, possession is nine/tenths of the law. Foxy is not going to be thinking, “Mom gave me one and she gave Scout one. I’ve finished mine, and fair is fair, If Scout wants his around the house, I’ll just leave it alone.” That would be human thinking, not dog thinking! And for his part, if Foxy hasn’t finished her toy, Scout will likely be ready to pounce on it the minute the crate door opens.

If your dogs seem to be the exception in the first few weeks they’re together, beware! This situation can change at any time, lifelong. It is really better just to never let it become an issue between the dogs. It’s one way your leadership can make life much better for them, and of course also for your human family members.

Dogs will use toys to work out aspects of their relationships with each other in ways that are hard for us humans to understand. Often you can leave out the less edible toys with your multiple dogs if you provide plenty of toys to reduce their need to compete over one. They will sometimes compete anyway, and you’ll have to decide whether or not their competition is serious enough that they should no longer have that type of toy when they are together.

Sometimes it’s just a moment of one dog keeping order in the pack by pointing out that he has the authority to take a toy from the underling if he wants to. Give the dog who lost the toy another one, without taking the first toy away from the dog who confiscated it. If he takes the second toy, too, and the third, this may be his message.

If she gives it up without a fuss, you may be wisest to simply let that communication between them stand. Be sure to provide her with chewing opportunities when he won’t confiscate the toy, such as when you take him out and she’s staying home, for the sake of her teeth.

No doubt about it, toys are one area in which an only dog benefits. Scout can have his favorite chewies and toys with treats in them out in the house all the time if he’s the only dog.

In this way dogs use toys as social tools. They also will sometimes use toys to get other dogs engaged in a game. Picking up a toy and running off with it can start a game of chase. The dominant pack member may choose this method when he cares nothing about the toy, but wants to encourage an underling who is afraid of him to join him in a game. You can do the same thing to help draw out a shy dog who is new to you.

Instincts

In the wild, dogs would collect food when given the chance, and store any extra for later. That’s why your dog may bury toys and bones. You can make use of this instinct if you have a dog digging up your back yard. Designate a digging area with clear boundaries (landscaping timbers, little picket fence, rocks, whatever), and frequently bury things there that the dog likes. Digging for what the dog sees as buried treasure will be more fun than digging in your flowerbed!

If you’re going to play the bury-the-toys game with multiple dogs in the yard, remember not to use toys they value too highly. Also remember to bury plenty, so they are busy looking for more instead of competing for the same few.

Toys to Promote Healthy Dog/Human Interaction

When it comes to your relationship with your dog, toys are your tools as well as the dog’s tools. The way you use toys with your dog has a profound effect on the nature and quality of your relationship.

Retrieving is the healthiest and safest game to play with a dog. It is completely unnecessary to use harsh methods to teach your dog to retrieve in play. Positive trainers have devised a large number of effective protocols for retrieving training. Once the human understands retrieving, the dog learns easily.

Dogs who learn to retrieve find it inherently rewarding. They may be uncertain at various points in the learning process, but once they have the idea, they see it as a dandy game. After all, they have powerful instincts to carry things in their mouths. How else would they carry anything? When carrying something becomes a part of interacting with the beloved human, the human becomes even more interesting than before, and more beloved, too.

Retrieving allows you to exercise your dog without heavy exertion on your part. For the dog’s orthopedic safety, keep your throws low enough that the dog doesn’t jump up and land on just the hind legs. This is an unstable landing for a dog that can lead to injury. Because of the difficulty of controlling the height flying disks will fly when caught by air currents, beware of throwing those for your dog. Don’t throw anything heavy for your dog to catch, either, because that can break teeth or cause other injuries.

Tug-of-war as a game to play with your dog using toys is controversial because, while it can be a component of a skillful training program, it isn’t safe for all dogs or all humans. If you’re not a skillful trainer, it’s best to forego the tug-of-war. Don’t permit children to play tug-of-war with your dog. If your dog’s behavior during tug-of-war becomes aggressive or difficult to instantly control, no more tug-of-war with that dog. If your dog has had this response, that’s another reason to teach the retrieve. It improves your control of the dog’s mouth, and motivates the dog to give you the item.

Toys as Powerful Motivators

There are dogs who find toys even more motivating than food! You can build the power of toys to motivate your dog, starting as soon as your dog comes to live with you. Teach retrieving through the use of a positive method from the time you first meet your puppy or dog. Keep a variety of toys on hand and note which ones most excite your dog.

Control the toys so that the dog looks to you for games with them, but remember to also have toys available to the dog at all times for the dog’s physical, mental and emotional health. The toys your dog can’t have out all the time because of chewing them up too fast may be your prime candidates for training times.

The chance to chase, catch, or settle for a few minutes of satisfying destructive chewing with THIS toy will be a Very Big Deal to your dog!

Retrieving is so motivating to dogs that it actually builds the dog’s desire to please you. It’s a different kind of drive than giving the dogs food treats as training rewards. Sometimes your training objectives will be better achieved with food, sometimes with toys, and sometimes with a creative combination. Your praise, verbal encouragement, excited voice, and body language can enhance these motivators – and at the same time, these motivators enhance the dog’s future interest in your voice and body language. Toys actually build your communication with your dog!

Invest Wisely

You can see the wisdom of investing in good toys for your dog. It may seem that “Scout has plenty of toys,” but if he’s also chewing on the furniture, you may be surprised at the power of bringing home something new and exciting to perk his interest in his own toys.

You may also be surprised at which toys he finds most exciting. As in anything you want to use to motivate and care for your dog, it pays to stay alert to his preferences and his behavior with his toys. These are important clues for creating the best life with Scout or Foxy or any other dog. Toys are great tools for dogs!