When I go to the big pet stores and look around, it seems that our dogs can only be happy if they have lots of toys.
When I talk to my clients and have them show me their dogs’ toys, we always find that they really use a maximum of 2 toys to play with.
What does that tell us?
We buy dog toys because we think they’re nice.
Because we think our dogs need a choice, which is a very human way of looking at having a choice.
Because we haven’t learned to play with our dogs instead of keeping them busy.
I think we should change this!
Dogs love to play with us from puppyhood.
They love and need physical contact to sense their physical boundaries, learn movements, act out and build trust in us.
So the first thing to offer us as toys:
So romping around on the floor together, rolling on top of each other and just having fun together.
Play fetch, play hide and seek and again: have fun together!
Make sure you start and end the game!
Except! Your dog asks you to play with him/her and it is the right time and the right place to respond to this request.
As always, my principle applies here too:
Is it safe for me? Is it safe for the dog? Is it safe for everyone around us?
In order to build trust from your play, it is important to repeatedly invite the dog into the safer space around you, to protect it physically and emotional.
As if a child jumps into your arms because it feels safe and protected there, it is trusting you to catch it. The wonderful thing about this type of play is that we will be there for a dog’s whole life to play with each other like this.
Yes, dogs should be given something to chew on.
Please make sure that they are natural. Many of the products on offer are unhealthy and dangerous for dogs.
Your dog should never be unsupervised when it has something to chew on.
One of the most popular toys for human-dog play is fetch toys.
Unfortunately, these are also the toys that are the most boring and harmful for our dogs.
Simply running, catching and bringing back is not very demanding for dogs.
In addition, the shoulder joints are heavily overloaded by the strong braking with the full momentum of their own body weight on these joints.
Here too, it is important to find the right balance.
You as the dog owner start and end the game, it is your ball, Frisbee, etc. Only try it 3-5 times and then do something else. This will make your life and that of your dogs more exciting and healthy.
A very important aspect of the topic of dog toys for me is that most dog toys are not of good quality and are not in your country but are imported from China. This means that they have traveled a long way to be used for a very short time and then end up in the household waste.
As dog owners, we are also responsible for our environment.
Less is more here too!
My colleague has written a very good and important article in her blog about an important aspect of dogs playing with each other.
You can find it on my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HeimkeMoll.KindHands .
Of course, every dog plays differently and of course we as dog kuhas also have a need to play with our dogs. For me it’s about reflecting on what we do and whether we sometimes do too much!
