Doodles and baby toys

[Heather Martinez]

We're expecting our first baby in January, and I am wondering how you handle the issue of dogs taking the baby's toys?

Teddy loves his toys but he is very rough on them. He can de-stuff a plush toy in 1 minute and it takes just a couple of minutes for him to chew through any plastic, including the Planet Dog toys that are "4 chompers". Consequently, he can only have a black Kong and some Planet Dog balls (5 chompers) to play with in the house. He loves them though! 

My concern is if he gets his paws on a teething ring or a stuffed animal or anything else, he'll destroy it quickly. How will he know which toys belong to the baby? Someone gave us a squeaky giraffe and he freaked out with excitement when I squeaked it, already thinking it was a new toy for him!

I was thinking of getting a special new toy for him and when he grabs a baby toy, I'll take it and replace it with his special toy. When he tires of playing with it, I could hide it again for the next time he grabs a toy. However, would this encourage him to bring me baby toys for the reward of a special toy? Alternatively, I could just give him one of his regular toys from the floor as a replacement. He is well behaved and knows "leave it" and "drop it" commands, so I can use those as part of his training too.

I would like to start training him on this ASAP before the baby is old enough to leave toys scattered around the house. I appreciate any suggestions! Thank you :)