Need Advice on 'Indestructible' Dog Toys

[Silver Gaia]

Anyone here have any experience with this?

I have two Border Collies (one has some Brittany in him, too, I think), a male and a female, who will turn two years old next month. They LOVE to play with toys, but I have yet to find anything they don't just destroy and start to eat (yes, not just chew it up... they will EAT it) within 30 minutes. I've even tried those supposedly indestructible Kong toys (the really hard black ones) with the same result. Half an hour and it's toast.

The only thing they seem to do OK with are hard rubber balls with no holes anywhere (if there's a hole anywhere in the toy, they'll hook a tooth into that hole and rip it apart), but they get bored with the balls.

What they want is something they can play with together, like tug ' war stuff, and the balls are pretty much solitary toys. Rope pulls are out. They quickly unravel them and eat the strings. I don't need a vet bill to remove wound-up strings from their guts. I've tried big, hard rubber rings and they eat those, too.

I've spent a ton of money trying to find something, anything they can play with safely and not had much luck. I'd be into a homemade toy, too, but haven't come up with anything workable.

So, I thought it might not hurt to ask here. Maybe someone has had a similar problem and found a solution. Any ideas?

[MiniMe]

1. Try a huggleh hound toy

The toys are expensive, but I got a few for my dogs for xmas this year. I haven't tried them out yet, but some of the volunteers at the lab rescue I volunteer for swear by them.

http://hugglehounds.com/tuffut.htm

They sell them at amazon. Note - I haven't tried them on my dogs yet, I will next week.

[mopinko]

2. tell me about it.

i have 2 young bulldogges. they are shredding machines. no stuffed toys. gone in half an hour. i actually do know a dog that is worse than mine. but they are bad.
they do seem to be good about the original kongs. have both the red and the black, and neither are shredded.
the cloth kongs last a little while. the soft plastic is tougher than it looks.
we need bones here. we like cows feet, lots of gelatin, and a bunch of tough little toe bones. but one has an allergy to beef. i have a couple contacts, but i need to get other bones. have a buffalo guy that will sell me some bones and organs. gonna get some steaks for us and some chittlins for the dogs.

[TorchTheWitch]

3. I've had good luck with the large wiggly giggly ball

The only thing my Akitas didn't try to rip apart and eat. It only makes the giggle sound intermittently, so that kept them fascinated enough to just play with it without eating it. Like you mine would rip apart every toy that was supposedly indestructible - yes, including the hard rubber Kong toys. The wiggly giggly ball was the one and only toy none of mine tried to chew to bits. I really think it's because they never stopped being interested in the fact that they couldn't make it make the sound 100% of the time. With regular squeak toys they figured out right away that when they did X the toy made the noise, and they got instantly bored with that so proceeded to just rip the toy to shreds.

I also made cloth covers for the balls with my third Akita who I have now, and he always rips up the cover or figured out how to peel open the velcro strip to take it off and put it on the ball so I can wash it, but he never tries to eat the actual ball. He also likes the balls better with the covers since all of them are some kind of creature that has legs or a tail or something he can grab onto and shake the ball and swing it around rather than just chasing the ball around. I think with this current dog the covers I made make the ball even more interesting to further have no desire to shred the ball.

The wiggly giggly ball was the single only toy that's lasted to the third and current Akita, and he still isn't interested in chewing it up or the other larger sized wiggly giggly balls I bought for him just so I could make more covers. I really think that especially with a highly intelligent breed that toys that hold their interest is really the only thing that keeps them from chewing them up.

I first accidentally got the small sized ball that's still marketed to dogs, but he never had a single bit of interest in it mostly I think because he just doesn't have an interest in small sized balls. When I got it he just sniffed at it once and it's been sitting in a far corner of the yard ever since. I finally did find the large sized one because that one for some reason is no longer marketed to dogs but to small children, but it's the same exact ball. The only difference with it now is that it comes in three different styles/colors, but that's it. You can only seem to buy them off the internet as well since I've yet to find them in any kid stores or toy stores. They have a REALLY wide range of prices on the internet, but the cheapest price I found was from Amazon...

http://www.amazon.com/Wiggly-Giggly-Toysmith-assorted-individually/dp/B000RA1R5A

Could be worth a try. With all the different toys my doggie has it's the wiggly giggly balls that hands down he plays with the most. Sometimes I wonder why I even have the other toys except for his stuffed wolf that he likes to sleep with... Woffie he doesn't treat like a toy but more like a security blanket like a kid with a teddy bear.

[hobbit709]

4. My little monster is the Destructo Queen of the Universe

I had a ball that had lasted through 5 dogs-she destroyed it in nothing flat.

[ginnyinWI]

5. Deer antlers.

I have heard that they are really good. They're pretty durable, last a long time. Kind of pricey though, unless you can happen to find some in the woods!

http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Our-Tails-100-Percent-Naturally/dp/B0053WMOKE/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1356013646&sr=1-1&keywords=deer+antlers+for+dogs

[hobbit709]

6. My monster has chewed up bricks.

[Silver Gaia]

16. Thank you for this suggestion!

This one gets a definite thumb's up!

[X_Digger]

7. Anything that I find that purports to be indestructible? Our dogs ignore.

Anything with stuffing? Gone. My wife even made our own stuffed toys with outdoor furniture fabric. That lasted longer than the average- maybe 30 minutes.

Anything with a rope? Gone.

Kongs and other supposedly indestructible toys, though? Are only interesting if there's a spoonful of peanut butter in the center. After that? Ignored.

Even the supposedly indestructible plastic bones get chewed down until they're landmines with sharp edges for the unwary barefoot person.

We have to ration play time with toys, and when we're done throwing them, they go back in the drawer.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. Our GSD eats wood - literally. She shreds downed branches into mulch lickety split.

She has a Kong ball that she chews and chews and chews. It is five or six years old.

[X_Digger]

9. We used to have a doxie like that..

He'd chew wood scraps, if we let him.

[Texasgal]

10. Nylabone toys seem to work well

for my monsters and YES, they tear up everything!

Look here: http://www.nylabone.com/product-finder/by-product-type/non-edible-for-powerful-chewers.php

[undeterred]

11. Having seen what my dog did to a squirrel he caught

in a matter of 15 seconds... I doubt there is anything in nature he couldn't tear apart.

As far as chewing- they have antlers at some stores that are sliced vertically through the bone and I've heard that they can chew on those for a long time. They are expensive though.

I think the only things that don't get destroyed are when you are one of the players.

[livetohike]

12. Boomer balls!

Definitely indestructible and I think I learned about them on DU back in 2004!

Here is the website: http://boomerball.com/

I bought two of them because I have an ACD and a Catahoula Leopard. I think I should have bought a smaller one for the ACD....he never liked playing with it, but he chases Cindy when she is playing with hers . Both of the balls are the 10" ones. Cindy loves her boomer ball.

[Silver Gaia]

13. Thanks for all the sugestions!

I'll take a look at them. One of the problems is that, individually, they have different needs in toys. Together, a tug toy would suffice, as long as it is reasonably tough. Individually, Seamus (the male) mostly just needs something he can chew on without destroying within 5 minutes. Fionna (the female) will chew, but is not as destructive, unless he has already started chewing on it, in which case, she will continue the destruction. What she really needs are some interactive toys that will challenge her intelligence. She'd love some puzzle toys. Unfortunately, most toys of this type are not tough enough to withstand his destructiveness. Some of these suggestions may work, though. I'll definitely check them out!!

[get the red out]

14. Border Collies!

Yep, that's my Layla, she's a chew monster, especially before she turned two (we now have a black Kong that has survived a while as she approaches 3, LOL).

I have found a good tug toy. I forgot what the exact one I bough was called but it is made from fire hose and there were many different sizes and types at our locally owned pet supply store. It is very tough, Layla tends to do a chewing frenzy when waiting her turn in agility class and I use it a lot there. Other toys didn't survive one class. Here is a link to one kind of them online http://www.jefferspet.com/hardcore-firehose-dog-toys/p/0029300/

I also like giving her deer antlers just to chew on. Those are a bit pricy to buy in stores, but my Sister and BIL live in the country and their hounds tend to drag in dead deer parts when they get a chance so I got some for free Before that I found some much cheaper on eBAY.

I bet those two are a fun pair to have around! BC's come fully loaded with energy but the sweet personalities and the unbelievable ability to communicate with their people is something I dearly love living with. And exercising with Layla isn't bad for me either!

Best luck!

[Silver Gaia]

15. Yes, they are great fun!

And the ability to communicate that you mention is one of the main reasons that I chose to have Border Collies as companions. Fionna was bugging me the other night while I was watching TV. I knew she wanted something but was trying to ignore her. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer, and asked her what she wanted. She walked over to the coffee table and licked the side of my glass of ice water, then looked at me, then looked out into the kitchen. Sure enough, her water bowl out in the kitchen was empty and that was exactly what she wanted: water. So cool.

[Silver Gaia]

17. So far, the suggestion about deer antlers is a winner!

I ordered some from Petco, and they arrived 2 days ago. Not too bad on the price, paid about $10 each, and if they last, it's well worth it! And so far, they are lasting. They've made barely a dent in them, and they seem to like them a lot. I introduced them by smearing a little bit of peanut butter on them. They went right at 'em.

They can't play tug of war with them, and I'd still like to find something TOUGH enough for that game they like to play, but they do keep my little monsters QUIET for a good long time in the evening.

I also ordered a puzzle game for Fionna, and started training her how to use it this afternoon. It was lots of fun!

I'll try some of the other suggestions on this thread, too, as time and the budget permit, and will try to report back on how well it worked. If it stands up to these two, you can rate it as pretty much indestructible.

[2theleft]

18. The only thing I found that my doberman/hound mix

wouldn't destroy was a ball I bought from a company that sold toys for zoo animals. I just tried to google it to see if I could send the link - I think that they had tug toys, but I can't find it. I will try to do some additional research. I figured if a lion couldn't destroy it, neither could Chance. Unfortunately he never played with it. Figures.

[Silver Gaia]

19. Yeah, a toy a lion couldn't destroy sounds promising! LOL

Let us know if you find something!

ETA: They destroyed one of my bathroom rugs this morning. Hubby accidentally left the door open. I was still asleep and he was in the office. They (well, I say "they"... I'm sure Fionna is the one who stole it) took the rug and it (briefly) became their favorite new tug toy. It is now utterly destroyed... ripped to pieces. argh.

[sad-cafe]

20. we haven't found anything our boxers can't destroy

even the KONG kind last about a day

[Silver Gaia]

21. Try the deer antlers!

[sad-cafe]

22. we will

thank you

[Silver Gaia]

23. I keep them up where they can see them, but have to ask for them, which they do every evening.

They gnaw on them for a while, then go to sleep. Works great!

[hobbit709]

24. I just heard back from the Kong people.

I had gotten Marcy one of their AirDog large footballs. She destroyed it in less than 3 days. They're going to send me a free replacement.

[Silver Gaia]

25. Wow, that's cool.

I should have done that when my monsters destroyed that supposedly indestructible Kong in about 30 minutes!