I’ve recently picked up my Chow Chow puppy who is now 8 weeks old. He loves toys but there is so many puppy toys out there, can some people please recommend their go to toys for their dogs/puppy’s?
His currently teething so any help with toys so he chews toys rather then my feet/hands would be really appreciated :)
He was the leader of the pack and is very hypo right now
I’ve bought 10 toys he cares for maybe 4 and ignores the rest. But I’m not here for useless comments I’m sure many people here have had puppies and know good toys which have worked for puppy teething
Bucket of KFC :)
My corgi pup shreds any sort of soft/plush toys so I don't bother with those anymore as they only last a few days… sometimes a few hours before he rips the stuffing out of it.
Kmart is a very good place to start with toys as they are pretty inexpensive. Their blankets and their crates are decent as well.
100% agree, we picked up a few blankets and toys from Kmart, also the crate which is working great too. We took him to the vet today and they said the next couple weeks will be rough until his fully immunised and we can walk him and take him to dog parks so we need to keep him busy until then
Nylabone and Kong products have worked well for our 1yr old labrador who really likes chewing.
Thank you heaps, I will check these both out at petbahn tomorrow :)
careful about nylabone though, my dog's adult teeth started to wore down significantly from chewing it daily, and he isn't even obsessive about it. I would suggest using softer toys, maybe rubber
In order to ensure an informed recommendation of suitable chew toys, a photo of the pupper is required which will thereby also save human's feet & hands from further nibbles 😉
Behold da pupper!
Have heard good things about Nylabone
I wet a towel and then freeze it. My puppy likes chewing it and the cold helps numb the gums a bit. Just make sure you cut the tags off the towel if your puppy likes tags and of course keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't tear it apart once it melts.
This is great thanks Luminary! I have been freezing carrots for the puppy and he seems to enjoy nibbling on frozen carrots but I will try wet towel to!
Do you know the lineage? If it’s from a powerful line make sure you do soft mouth/bite training.
If you already know about training powerful dogs, disregard.
I know his lineage from the breeder, his from a very strong lineage and is a pure bred chow chow from a well known breeder in NSW, chow chow wise. I don’t know about training powerful dogs
Toilet rolls. Put treats inside.
In my opinion you should let them bite you as a puppy and scold them. So they know not bite humans when older.
You should also give them wires, shoes, socks, etc too but also provide suitable alternatives. Scold for picking unacceptable objects and praise+play with cardboard/toys.
Save yourself from the massive headaches/money later.
I did read about biting inhibition, and teaching them to bite softly while young to save the trouble of a big bite when an adult, thanks, will look into this more! :)
Our young pup likes playing with toys for the first 10 mins and then seems to get bored of them quickly. We’re trying to rotate his available toys after every few days to keep them fresh.
The things that keep him chewing the longest so far are
- chicken necks (can get from the butcher)
- shark cartilage (got a pack from Kmart)
- bully sticks (got as a gift - expensive but will be getting more when they run out - worth it given how long they can keep him occupied).
Chewing all of the above is also good for cleaning his teeth.
This is perfect thanks miruku I will def look into the bully sticks I’ve heard a couple people mention those now so they must be good!
Kongs are one of the best.
Jeez, just looking at the wikipedia entry for Chow Chow and I can see 20 good reasons to not own one.
I give mine a squashed plastic bottle with kibble inside, takes him about an hour to get it open
Having survived the teething stage of a Labrador puppy, here are some things that got us through.
Food-based chews:
- bully sticks
- himalayan dog yaky chew
- beef ears (but watch the fat percentage, the best we found were https://www.petcircle.com.au/product/natures-cuts-beef-ears)
- kangaroo tendons and/or kangaroo knee tendons (from clear dog treats for best price)
- shark skins and/or shark dental chews (from clear dog treats as well)
- kangaroo ribs (the mini ones from clear dog treats)
- moo tubs (from clear dog), stuffed with soaked kibble mixture, then frozen. You can do the same with cow hooves but mine wasn't, and still isn't, emotionally ready for the excitement of a whole hoove yet
- frozen carrots
Toy chews:
- Nylabone, but get the puppy ones that are kinder to their teeth. Mine LOVED the puppy chew Keys, still chews away at it now.
- Coffee wood chew. The Dogwood one is cheap, but mine liked the one from Wag more. These are great for pups that like chewing on sticks, but are a lot safer to digest
- Kmart toys, but depending on how destructive your pup is, you might need to supervise
- Afp little buddy heartbeat toy thing. We took the heartbeat out for safety, but the soft toy itself is something mine still loves to suckle on before falling asleep
- Outward hound Hide A Squirrel plush toy. Great for the mind as well, and well built to outlast those baby shark teeth. A cheaper alternative that's also quite good https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B0719KTGBP/ref=ppx_yo_d…
- And for some reason, the Golden Retriever soft toy from Ikea ($30). It's huge, and mine still sleeps/cuddles/chews on it daily. There's a smaller version too.
For general enrichment:
- Stuffing a kong with his kibble (soak kibble overnight first, then stuff), then freeze. You can also mix the kibble mixture with things like yogurt or peanut butter or whatever to make things more interesting
- Kibble inside plastic bottle (but cut off the ring thing at the top first)
- Frozen licky mats. If you're short on time, buy pouches of baby food (make sure it's 100% apple or whatever), spread, and freeze.
- Kong wobbler
- Bob-a-Lot
- Cardboard boxes to tear
Some general tips:
- Stay away from the goat horns, deer antler, most bones until he's a bit older as those can be too hard for his teeth.
- Don't give him all his toys at once, or allow him access to everything. I find that if you only give a puppy 1 or 2 toys, and alternate them, they'll stay more engaged and interested. What's "old" will be "new" if they don't see it after a week.
- Bite inhibition would've been taught by his mother, and he'll already know it. The issue is teaching him that biting your hands, feet, etc. isn't fun, and not a game. \
- What worked for us was saying very sternly "no" every time he bite, and offering him an alternative by saying "this". Rinse and repeat. If you don't have an alternative at hand (and let's face it, that's often the case), then say a stern "no", and hold his mouth close for a few seconds. No eye contact until after you release his mouth. After release, if he doesn't go for you again, praise him heaps "good boy" in the happiest, most excited tone you have. Puppies understand tones, and trust me, it works.
This is amazing thank you, you told me more then my vet did! Lifesaver I will start going through some of your items and pick them up and definitely start rotating the toys instantly :)
No worries. Vets mean well, but they don't have much behavioral knowledge unless they're a vet behaviorist (a specialist that you need a referral to). Ours was, and can still be a very hyper puppy, and we quickly realized that a tired puppy is a well-behaved puppy.
Best way to tire them out:
- Tire their brains out. Much better than physical, especially since they're still so young and you have to look after their joints and bones.
- Short, sharp training sessions whenever they get that crazy look in their eyes. Keep them very short i.e. 5 mins max. Training will help you bond with your pup, and also help them learn who's boss
- Rather than just training things like sit, stay, consider playing impulse control games instead. Most puppies have horrible self-control, and these games really help. Games like "It's yer choice" form the foundation for the "leave it" command, and are a lifesaver.
- Get your puppy to 'work' for his food. We like to scatter kibble around the backyard and our dog will spend at least 15-30mins searching for every single piece. Sniffing calms dogs down, and it's also very hard work, so a great mental enrichment game.
- Make sure to put your puppy on enforced naps. Ours did well on a 1 hour up, 2 hours down schedule, and his behavior improved heaps once he wasn't a sleepy cranky land shark.
- When he's old enough to go out into the world, consider not visiting dog parks just yet. I've found dog parks to be a bit of a free-for-all with dogs and owners of varying training and knowledge. It's too easy for a young puppy to learn the wrong behaviors, or worse yet, form a bad experience with other dogs. It'll also set your off-lead recall back if you set him loose at a dog park and you don't have a rock solid recall yet (rock solid being recall first time, every time, regardless of distractions). Your choice, of course, but something to think about, especially since you have a Chow Chow.
Last but not least, training, training, and more training. Puppy school is a start, but consider joining at the very least a local dog obedience club (cost is minimal). We wanted something more pro though and ended up joining an obedience school, costly, but well worth it.
Congrats on your new puppy!
We had a similar puppy with our sister and he loooved chewing the sofas as long with sox and the washing baskets.
We got him Bone Marrow Chews and they're fantastic! Really good for him to and he takes ages to chew them. He has a couple round the house to rotate and they have multiple flavours.
Training is a huge on too through, he needs to know what is and is not allowed, so lots of patience in training in the early stages will be much better in the long run.
Good luck!
As if a puppy cares what the toys are