If you have just adopted a puppy, you may have realized that play is, without a doubt, one of the demands that your furry friend will most demand of you. It is not unusual then that you are wondering what are the best toys for puppies, since there is a wide range of toys on the market designed for different purposes.
Faced with this sea of possibilities, in this article on our site, we want to advise you on the most recommended toys for your puppy, as well as what features you should look out for when you buy a new toy for the newcomer.
What are puppy toys for?
Dogs are social animals that love to play with others of the same species, as well as with people or other animals. Through play, puppies carry out various learnings that will determine their adult life, such as self-control, proprioception and appropriate interaction with others. In addition, they exercise and it is a means of socializing and leisure.
For this reason, toys play a very important role in your puppy's development, so include them during play sessions, whether with you, with other dogs or alone,enrich this activity , providing much more diversity of exercises and stimulating the puppy's different senses, thus preventing them from getting bored, satisfying their curiosity and learning new things.
Types of puppy toys
There is a wide variety of toys for puppies. The main ones are the following:
- Chase toys: Dogs love to play chase because it's part of their instinct. For this reason, the most varied toys have been designed to be thrown and chased by your puppy. From the classic balls (rubber, cloth, rubber, with lights, etc.), to stuffed animals and even flying discs.
- Tug-of-war toys: this section highlights all the toys made with ropes, designed so that two individuals, like two dogs, or the owner with the puppy, pull each end of it. This kind of game satisfies many puppies, tires them out through physical exercise and, following the correct training guidelines, prevents them from developing a problem of protecting the toy, as it associates the fact of sharing it with something fun.
- Teether toys: This type of toy is usually made of strong materials, such as hard rubber, which makes it difficult for children to break. most dogs. They are, therefore, designed so that your puppy can distract himself and spend long periods of time safely biting an object that is suitable for him, preventing him from doing it with something inappropriate.
- Toys with prizes: these types of toys are designed so that your puppy can amuse himself while playing alone, at the same time that he is rewarded therefore through food. This keeps your puppy entertained, mentally active and, in turn, learns to be alone, preventing them from developing separation anxiety if used properly. These are usually chew toys or fetch toys, such as the Kong or dispensing balls.
- Intelligence toys for dogs: intelligence or interactive toys have been specifically designed for your puppy to learn to solve a challenge with the purpose of which is to obtain a reward. In this way, your puppy will remain stimulated and, by learning through trial and error, will know how to function in different situations of lesser or greater difficulty that you propose.
And if you also have adult dogs at home, we encourage you to read this other article on our site about Types of toys for dogs.
How to choose the best toy for a puppy?
If you are wondering what kind of toys you should buy to offer the best care to your puppy, we advise you to take into account the following points:
Have a variety of toys
Puppies generally get easily bored if they only have one kind of toy, because once they get to know it and it doesn't bring them anything new, their curiosity will make them explore other objects that may or may not be suitable for him.
For this reason, as the owner you must have a wide repertoire of toys at your disposal that provide different types of stimulation and entertainment to your puppy. In this way, you can vary the toy and offer multiple options to your puppy, with which he will always have fun playing with you or alone.
Meet your puppy
Besides, among your toys, you probably prefer some more than others. Therefore, it is important that you look at what type of game and what features your puppy finds the most fun, so you can get to know him better and know how your puppy likes to playIt could be the case, for example, that your pup loves to play tug-of-war, but he doesn't particularly like you tossing him the ball.
On the other hand, in addition to being important to know your puppy, it is essential to know how to play with him correctly. In this other article, we explain How to play with a puppy.
Safe Toys
Although toys for puppies are generally designed so that they cannot be harmful to your pet, you should never trust them. Without a doubt, buying quality toys is especially important, as these will be safe for your friend, resistant, non-toxic, without sharp or abrasive elements and, therefore,, they will hardly pose a risk to him, as long as they are not very worn (in which case, they should be removed).
Conversely, your puppy could injure itself while playing or break pieces of the toy if it breaks easily. This clearly poses a danger, as you could cut yourself, choke, ingest it and not be able to excrete it, and even become intoxicated if they are made of harmful materials.
According to his abilities
When you want to buy a toy for your pet, you must take into account that this toy is suitable for him. There are many toys designed specifically for puppies, as those designed for adults can still be too difficult a challenge for your puppy, a fact that will make himgets frustrated easily and associates it with a negative experience. Examples of this are food-dispensing toys or teethers (such as the Kong), since those designed for adults are made of much harder materials, or toys from intelligence. In the same way, you should buy a toy according to the size of your pet , since a large puppy will not have the same capabilities as a mini one.
Homemade puppy toys
If you want to provide your puppy with toys made by yourself, we explain some ideas on how to make homemade toys for your puppy, easy to make, made with recycled materials and with which your furry friend will have fun cool.
Sock with ball
If you have an old or mismatched sock and don't know what to do with it, you can give it a second life as a toy for your puppy.
For this simple toy, all you have to do is put a sturdy ball inside the sock (we recommend, for example, a tennis ball) and tie both ends of the sock.
In this way, you already have a toy with which to spend great times playing tug-of-war with your puppy. In addition, you can throw it to chase it.
Teeper Bottle
For this toy you will simply need a plastic bottle and a sock or a t-shirt that you no longer use. You must wrap the bottle with the garment and tie it firmly at both ends. If there is too much fabric on the sides, trim it so that it cannot come off.
With this teether, your pup can be easily distracted and exercise his jaw However, we do not recommend leaving him unattended playing with this toy, because if your puppy is very destructive, it could eventually break it and, for this reason, it will have to be removed so that it does not get hurt.
Food dispenser
For this simple treat-dispensing toy, you will need a bottle, a box cutter or cutting tool, and sticky tape.
To make this toy, you must make holes of different sizes in the bottle, through which the food and/or prizes you want to add inside the toy.
For safety, these holes will have to be reinforced with adhesive tape, so that there is no risk that your puppy could cut himself with the plastic of the bottle. Next, we leave at your disposal this video with which you can learn in more detail how to make this homemade food dispenser:
