The Doggy Toy Box

Toys should be an integral part of any dog’s life – they provide relief from boredom and stress, fun and excitement, dental care and tasty treats. But finding the right toys for your dog can be overwhelming; there are more types of dog toys than there are varieties of milk. We’ve got a few hints to help you find something your pup will love, and use it to the best of its potential.

Engaging Natural Instincts

The easiest way to figure out what  kind of toy your dog will enjoy is to think about their breed. For instance, sight hounds (greyhounds, borzois, salukis, etc) have super keen eye sight and usually respond immediately to quick movement. That’s why the lure I picked up at a stall at the Sydney Dog Lovers’ Show this year is now Atlas’s favourite toy. Similarly to sight hounds, gundog breeds (e.g. labs, golden retrievers, vizslas) chase for fun and particularly love combining this with water.

Atlas’s favourite toy, made with naturally dyed suede and sheep skin

Working breeds tend to be quite clever dogs, so put them to the test with puzzle toys like kongs and similar treat dispensers. The more stocky breeds also come with a lot of strength and love showing it off with games of tug o’ war – so a good strong rope toy is a must. For many breeds their original purpose has long since given way to aesthetics, and in that case, it’s just a case of trial and error to find out what interests your dog.

Did you know you can do it yourself?

If you’ve ever wandered into Pet Barn to buy dog food and ended up with 11 toys, you will have noticed that the expected total just tripled. For some reason, companies who produce most high quality dog toys expect you to pay a premium for them, whether they’ll last 10 years or 10 minutes with your dog. For the latter, buying toys ends up as part of the monthly budget and can become really expensive. I also know all too well the buyer’s remorse of spending $30 on a toy, only to have a certain stinking greyhound show absolutely zero interest in it (forever).

So with that in mind (as well as my being a poor, poor student), I LOVE anything DIY. The video above shows just how much fun dogs can have with homemade toys. If you’re not quite that handy, don’t worry, there are easier things to make. Got a bunch of old rags? You’ve got yourself material for a rope toy or a lure. If your dog is a shredder, give them a cereal box or toilet paper role filled with treats and sealed up. You’d be surprised how entertaining an empty milk bottle can be for imaginative dogs. Turn an ordinary tennis ball into a treat dispenser with a kitchen knife alone. If you’re looking for more ideas, hit up pinterest for a bazillion suggestions. Just make sure to be aware of choking hazards, pointy bits and things which are unsuitable for consumption.

My Dog Is Broken

For a long time I thought I had a broken dog. Actually he kind of was. Atlas came to us not knowing how to play. He showed zero interest in toys and was actually afraid of most of them. If you’ve adopted an adult dog and find yourself in the same situation, know this – dogs can definitely learn how to play. Time and their relaxation into your home environment are big factors, but your interaction with them also plays a big role.

We realised after about 10 months that if we riled Atlas up by running around and generally acting nuts, he would want to play. We started off just racing around the yard, but soon introduced toys into the mix. We would run, stop, throw a toy, pick it up ourselves and run away again – soon he got the idea that we were after the toy, and of course he wanted to beat us to it. Even now he still isn’t as toy obsessed as many other dogs I’ve met, but he has at least learned how to get some enjoyment out of deading all of his toys. My main piece of advice – try every toy more than once! What they hated 6 weeks ago they may go crazy for today.

The Golden Ticket

Once you’ve found the perfect toy for your dog, you’ll be amazed at what you can do with it. From redirecting destructive behaviours to exercise, fun and even as a reward during training, the perfect toy is a golden ticket to a happy, healthy and well adjusted dog.

We hope you find something your dog loves to bits – if you’ve got a favourite toy, share it with us!

With love,

B*!ch better have my money; raising a spoiled dog on a budget

Many intelligent people warned me about supporting a dog on a PhD salary (no, it’s not the 6 figures I know you thought it was). To them I said “who needs a new phone/car/wardrobe when you have the undying love and companionship of your own sooky greyhound?”. But in reality, I get both, and it’s because I’m stingy. Or a finance wizard, whatever works. The golden rule for spoiling your dog without spoiling your life savings is getting stuff on the cheap without compromising on quality.

It’s bulking season

For some people, buying in bulk is terrifying. If you’ve ever been to Costco and seen a pack of 8 million toilet rolls, you can understand this fear. But I’m telling you now, bulk buying is the way to go, all you need is storage space (a lament I faced often when living with Atlas in an apartment). Here’s the reason you shouldn’t be afraid to bulk up – you’ll use it eventually.

The freezer space I sacrifice to fit in 10kg of kangaroo mince

Dry food? It lasts for about a year (kept in an airtight container), unless of course you got it SUPER cheap because it was close to expiry (watch out for that!). Unless you plan to stop feeding your dog, or you’re not sure whether or not your fussy fuss pot will like it, bulk dry food is a must to save your pennies; Atlas’s food is $8.70/kg in a 7kg bag or $5/kg in a 20kg bag. We also buy wet food (roo mince) in bulk, at the bargain basement price of $4/kg. There are plenty of other things to which this applies; think poop bags, dog daycare, walking or grooming sessions, worming and flea protection.

Let’s get creative

Atlas’s onesie, custom fit to his gangly frame

For others, DIY is even scarier than a delivery of 10kg of roo mince. Whether you are a DIY domestic goddess or fear that you are lacking the genetic map for any sort of creativity, your dog doesn’t care. Toys are a good one, particularly for the creatively challenged – try plastic bottles (lids and labels removed, wrapped in something soft if you’re a sewer!) or making a rope toy out of old (but clean) shirts. If you have a sewing machine and love to sew, trust me, there are plenty of things to make your dog. Whip up a new cover for their bed instead of buying a new one, create a custom fitted (and bejazzled) winter coat or buy a boring collar and give it some zest with a fabric cover up.

A poop bag holder that I whipped up in 10 minutes

Treats are my absolute favourite thing to home make – not only because they are enough to send me broke, but because I’m happier knowing exactly what’s in them, and that they are healthy (and sometimes naughty). Oven dried sweet potato chews, wholemeal PNB and honey biscuits and ice blocks of dilute chicken stock w/ hotdog bits are Atlas’s go to home made treaties.

Brands aren’t everything…or are they?

I’m not a brand person. That goes for cars, clothes and also dog stuff. As long as a product is effective, I don’t really care who made it. However, there are important exceptions to this rule. One of the things that I skip brand names on are medications (ask your vet if they have the equivalent of “chemist’s own” rather than brand names). For particular medical things (e.g. flea products), I only use brands (which each have different active ingredients) which I know work – a combination of trial and error and advice from other dog mums. Toys are another double edged sword. Atlas is a destruction machine when it comes to tennis balls, so a pack of 5 for $3 lasts a week, whereas actual TENNIS tennis balls, which are more expensive, last for ages. When it comes to treat stuffers on the other hand, he doesn’t exert a lot of chewing power, so I can get away with a cheapie instead of spending my week’s wages buying a real KONG (I hear they are inlaid with real gold).

Tennis ball destruction in 30 minutes flat

In the end, keep in mind that shortcuts cost money (e.g. annual heartworm vax vs monthly tablet, DIY grooming). You also do need to be able to pay any emergency medical bills (Atlas has cost $3000+ in vet bills in his first year…but he’s special) – if you are worried about this, look into pet insurance, but note that pre-existing conditions aren’t covered. The most important thing is to be realistic; if you can live comfortably and pay for a dog, then don’t let money stop you, but if you live week to week, don’t bring a dog home only to realise you can’t afford him.

With love,