How do I choose the right toy for my dog?

There are many factors that come into play when trying to choose the right toy for your dog.
For example, the age of your dog, the environment (indoors or outdoors mostly), activity level and the size of your dog.

Puppies
Let’s start with puppies! Puppies are super playful and have bursts of energy. Plush toys are great for them at the start, protects their teeth until they have developed their full chewing potential. If your puppy is a little unsettled or nervous then maybe choose a plush toy that has calming qualities in it, like the Aroma Dog Calming Fleece Security Blanket.
We highly recommend supervising your puppy while they are playing with soft toy.

Of course, it won’t be long until the puppy enters into the teething stage - we all know what that is like!

To help protect your furniture, or even your body parts, we recommend having some teething toys designed for the tender mouth of puppies teeth on hand. If your puppy starts chewing at furniture or you, try replacing the furniture with a chew toy. They will generally be happy with the change, as long as they can chew! We love the Puppy Chew Can from Sodapup – which is extra chewy and durable to survive those razor teeth!

This intensified chewing phase usually ends by six months of age – so hang in there!

Active Dog

If you have an active dog, then you may need a toy for when you are out or perhaps more so while you are at home.
Dogs love sniffing. Even the really active dogs, will of course love to run and perhaps chase a ball, but dogs also have an innate desire to walk and investigate their world while doing it. Sniffing is hugely beneficial for dogs and essential for their wellbeing. It's stimulating too - experts tell us just 20 minutes of sniffing is equivalent to an hour's walk in terms of enrichment for your dog.

Therefore, this leads to the enrichment dog toys such as dog puzzles and snuffle mats. We believe these provide the mental stimulation and enrichment your dog will really enjoy.
This is why we created the Enrichment Dog Bundle, which is a perfect combination of puzzles, sniffing and licking that your dog will absolutely love! This enrichment bundle is also great to use indoors for those winter cold and rainy days.

The Power Chewers!

This brings us to the Power Chewers (or Extreme chewers). Power chewers come in all shapes and sizes, so do not be fooled. Chewing keeps the dog’s jaw strong and their teeth clean. They chew for fun, for stimulation, and they chew to relieve anxiety or frustration. Although, it is normal for a dog to chew, perhaps it’s what they are chewing that we aren’t a fan of (furniture, walls, shoes etc). Having appropriate chew toys around will help, however we suggest you also try teaching your dog what is okay to chew and what is not. This can be done in a gentle, humane manner.

It is often hard to find a chew toy that is safe but also actually lasts!

One way to help a power/extreme chewer is to combine real food with their toys. Stuff the inside of a toy with their favourite snack so that they will pick up the scent and keep themself busy until they reach their treat. More often than not, your dog is a power/extreme chewer because he's easily bored.

We recommend introducing something new or rotate your dog’s chew toys every couple of days so that he doesn’t get bored with the same old toys.

One of our favourites, is the Honey Bone Dental Tower. This strong chew toy cleans their teeth at the same time and is designed to slowly grate down, which protects their teeth from snapping. They will absolutely love chewing on this. 

If your dog prefers a treat based chew, then we highly recommend our most popular Bone Marrow Chews. They are available in 4 flavours, 2 sizes. All dogs are different with chewing so they can take anywhere between 20-40 minutes to chew. They are a delicious healthy treat for your dog, which is why we absolutely love them.