Dismembering Toys :(

[Robin & Josie]

Miss Josie is just about 13 months old and has not lost interest in decapitating her toys. Will she outgrow this? She used to love playing with soft toys. Running around holding them and squeaking them. For some time now, she prefers taking out the stuffing and the squeakers. Fortunately, she doesn't seem interested in eating - only shredding.

She also enjoys bully sticks, antlers etc. She just loves to chew.

Just wondering if she will outgrow this behavior and go back to enjoying playing, rather than dismembering, her stuffed toys...

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

Hurley is almost 2 1/2 years old.  He never tore up a toy.  He never tore up anything, in fact.  And with his toys he played hard but never intentionally.    However, we had a play day at our house with another doodle.  She taught Hurley how to tear up his toys.   I think I stood there watching with my mouth open.   So I don't have an answer for you other than what I have been told is that they out grow it around 2 or so.  

[Gem's Jewel]

We have an almost 13 year old that would still de-stuff any toy or de-fuzz any tennis ball you gave her and then play with them for years. The two others just play with them and only chew on toys made to chew on. She is one of the best dogs we have ever had though and she never chewed on anything unless it was given to her and she was 5 weeks old when we got her.

[Christy&Riley]

Riley turned 1 last Sunday. She too has always like stuffed toys. She doesn't shred but she chews incessantly until she breaks through. She'll walk around chewing a toy like we chew gum. I'm hoping she outgrows it soon as I just sewed two toys an hour ago and she already broke through one. Ugh...good luck!

[al haskins]

Make sure she does not swallow the squeakers.....Latka did and the vet kill was in the thousands for the surgery.  You might consider signing our petition

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-our-pets

[John Wang]

Boomer destroys most of his toys. What we ended up doing was any plushie that has stuffing, we removed all the stuffing. We now only buy stuffingless plushies with reinforced areas for the squeakers, or the 6-layer toys that are super heavy duty. Boomer loves going at them and they really last a long time. Just keep rotating them every week so they seem new each time ;) We take that opportunity to wash the used ones so they're clean again.

[Robin & Josie]

John - Can you give me an example of these reinforced toys that you have? By the time Josie finishes with a toy, there's nothing left to wash. (See attached photo of "Tuffy Bunny" missing a leg). She chews through everything and shreds them into little pieces. She loves to do it, but I can't stand the wastefulness, and I do worry that she will accidentally swallow a piece. I'm ready to get rid of them all.

We tried a couple of no stuffing toys. She still tore right into them and broke off the end pieces. I bought a seriously reinforced, many layer octopus recently. The guy in the store guaranteed she couldn't break into it. She's already broken through 6 legs :( She's tough. And she's little (13 lbs). He, at least, said we could bring it back and he would refund the cost.

[John Wang]

Rope toys are great options. Nylabones also last Boomer a while, though as of late he has lost interest. He LOVES this fox - http://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Plush-Skinneeez-24-Inch-Stuffingless/...

I got something similar to Tuffy's Ultimate Bone from one of those secondary shops (Ross/Home Goods) that looks like this- http://www.tuffietoys.com/ultimate-bone

It squeaks, and has fabric akin to soft luggage, so it's fairly durable. No stuffing, just lots of layers of fabric.

If you go to those secondary shops, their dog toys are always $3-8/ea, which for me is fine, as Boomer requires a lot, and who wants to buy a $15 stuffed animal just to throw it away in a week?

Boomer also gets a kick out of his old decapitated toys, we just took out the stuffing and he'll still rip away at it. Just inspect it each time to make sure nothing loose is coming off. If it is, just clip it off with scissors and you're good to go!

[Kris and Sawyer]

Haaa...Sawyer killed his tuffy bone in less than 5 minutes. Now it's just the plastic bone with no material. Which is fine, he plays with that. I've found there is not one soft/material toy out there that he can't destroy. And I've tried them all!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Ned outgrew intentional dismembering, but still rips and destroys toys, Gordie never destroyed any toys, and Clancy came to us at age two as a premier toy destroyer and, at age 6, still holds records for speediest squeaker disembowelments.

[Christy&Riley]

Have you tried West Paw Zogoflex toys?

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I did find one toy that Hurley loves because it squeaks but he has not been able to tear apart and neither has is would be surgeon girlfriend, Karma.  Petstages Just For Fun No Stuffing Plush Big Squeak.