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Are puppy toys a waste of money?

17 replies

WilliamShatner · 28/06/2014 08:28

Naturally, my daughter and I were excited about buying toys for our whippet puppy.

He is not interested in them?

Furry, crinkly snake toy - ignores it and prefers to play with a scarf that he found in my daughters room.

Puppy kong - was interested for two seconds then has completely ignored it but absolutely loves the cardboard backing it was attached to.

Teething rubber bones flavoured with milk and beef - will only chew if you hold it in his mouth. He much prefers my slippers and will walk around with a slipper in his mouth and then mouth it to his hearts content!

Chew rings - doesn't want to know. Screwed up ball of paper more fun.

Balls - ignores completely but loves finding a big leaf and playing with that.

Knotted chew rope- enjoyed at first for half a minute but now doesn't want to know. Absolutely loves it if he can chew on one of my daughters dreadlocks or my long hair and we have to quickly remove him and place a toy in his mouth before we are left bald!

We have the toys in a big box and only get one or two out at a time so as not to overwhelm him but he really isn't that interested!

Wasted money or will he grow to like them?

Previous dogs have loved their toys but were older. Whippet will be seven weeks on Monday so is very young.

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daisydotandgertie · 28/06/2014 08:30

How have you got a puppy who is so very young? He shouldn't be away from his mum and siblings yet. He's not even 7 weeks old yet

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GobblersKnob · 28/06/2014 08:48

I think he is just too young, what he should be playing with is his siblings.

I read on another thread (pointy one?) The reasons you have him so young, but I do think it is very irresponsible of whoever bred him. My first dogs dam developed pyrometra when they were five weeks, so she had to be taken away from them, however they were all kept together until eight weeks and their grandmother was put in with them to teach them dog stuff.

It would be great if you could find a calm, trustworthy, vaccinated dog for your puppy to socialize with. I would also be tempted to contact a behaviourist, maybe just for a phone chat, to make sure you are doing the right things with him.

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WilliamShatner · 28/06/2014 08:52

His mother rejected them and the family are in the process of moving. The son is a vague acquaintance of my daughter and the puppies were being given away as the family were unable to look after them after the mother stopped feeding them and in the middle of a chaotic house move.

I went round there to check on this and told them in no uncertain terms that they must not let the dog breed again.

I got the feeling they had intended to sell them but it all went wrong when the mum dog stopped feeding them.

The mum dog was in good health as was another unrelated dog.

As far as I know the other puppies went to homes with existing dogs so hopefully their care will be in experienced hands.

We've not had a whippet before but are doing all we can to improve on his dodgy start.

So far, so good. Vet appointment in a weeks time for first vaccination and check over. He has been wormed. Eats,poos, sleeps well and is bright and lively.

Pew have an established routine and he is brilliant.

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Floralnomad · 28/06/2014 08:53

At that age I would imagine he would prefer soft cuddly things anyway ,, IME kongs are only interesting if they're stuffed with something and once that's gone so is the interest. I'd give him a big fluffy toy to cuddle up to.

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WilliamShatner · 28/06/2014 08:57

He has an ikea pig which he cuddles and rolls around with and a cuddly toy dog. Both have stitched noses and eyes so that there is nothing loose like plastic eyes or noses which he could choke on if worked loose.

He has tried to hump the ikea pig and when first given it he searched its belly or a nipple!

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GobblersKnob · 28/06/2014 09:10

It's a real shame, bless them. Who breeds a dog when they are about to move house?

I have a whippet and know lots of others, they do tend towards nervy, hence why I would want to be hanging around with other dogs, so that nervousness doesn't become directed towards them.

I have quite a bit of dog experience, but in your situation I would definitely what some expert advice to make sure I didn't get anything wrong.

Do be careful as he gets bigger, the biggest danger in giving children's cuddly toys to dogs is the stuffing, which is generally coated in fire retardant chemical which can poison, and can cause an intestinal blockage if ingested.

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muttynutty · 28/06/2014 09:13

That is so heartbreaking that he is searching for a nipple Sad. He will not be able to play with any of the toys yet he is way to young. He needs cuddling nurturing and playing with other puppies to learn dog behaviour. You need to get some specialist advice to help you deal with this situation to avoid having a lifetime of behavioural issues ahead of you.

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muttynutty · 28/06/2014 09:14

to = too

Do you know where his siblings have gone can you all get together to let them have be together for a few weeks?

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WilliamShatner · 28/06/2014 13:24

We don't live in the area that my daughter went to school in so do t know all the other people who had puppies only that my daughter knows that some have dogs already.

He isn't searching for a nipple any more, we've had him a week and he has come on in leaps and bounds.

Today he has played with his rope toy and he enjoys playing in the garden with us. We get down on the floor with him.

He knows not to mouth hard on us and will be very gentle with our fingers.

We are putting in the time and effort with him as it's so important.

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daisydotandgertie · 28/06/2014 13:53

Poor chap. What a rotten start he's had.

At 6, nearly 7 weeks, pups are most interested in flower pots, soft toys, newspaper to shred, loo roll middles, knotted towels etc.

Toys begin to appeal at about 7/7.5 weeks and from that point onwards, will be the best things ever. Chew toys are usually interesting from this sort of age too.

Good luck with him - he may well need teaching how to play!

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insanityscatching · 28/06/2014 14:22

One of Eric's favourite toys is a Persil washing liquid dosing ball. I put one of his treats in and he has a wild old time throwing it about to get the treat out. The middle out of the loo roll (a full loo roll is the bee's knees if you can stand the mess) appeals as does an empty tissue box with a bit of kibble in the bottom. To be honest the toys I bought haven't held as much interest as the ones he's found or I've discovered for myself.

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soddinghormones · 28/06/2014 14:54

At 8 weeks dpup's favourite things to play with were cuddly toys, cardboard boxes, loo roll inners, newspaper

A little later squeaky things came into favour, tuggy toys and chewy things (although he's never seen the appeal of nylabones)

When he was about 6 months old he suddenly saw the point of balls

Now at 11 months his best toys are squeaky balls, tennis balls, floating gundog dummy, cuddly dog toy from Battersea dogs home stuffed with one of ds's old (smelly) socks, unstuffed skinneez fox and squirrel, rope tuggy, crinkly snake tuggy, and a plastic water bottle cover thingy

We went on a gundog training day a few weeks ago and he was very taken with a fur-covered dummy so may have to invest in one of those

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daisydotandgertie · 28/06/2014 15:16

I avoid nylabones like the plague. One of my dogs came very close to dying from an obstruction caused by a piece of a nylabone. She was desperately ill and they are therefore no longer allowed in my house.

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moosemama · 28/06/2014 19:47

Try getting a loo roll/foil cardboard inner-tube. Put a few pieces of his normal food inside, punch a couple of holes in the sides with a pencil tip, then fold in the ends and let him rip up the tube to get to the kibble.

We have quite a few cuddly toys made by Rosewood (so specifically for dogs) for our younger dog. He had a rough start too (he was dumped at less than 24 hours old, then at the vets for a while before being surrogated, then removed from that mum to a foster home) and loved cuddlies the best from the start. His favourite was the forerunner to this duck and despite now being 1 year old and ridiculously big he still cuddles it to sleep every night. When we first got it, it was the same size as him. Smile

He still loves destroying cardboard boxes and tubes more than any other toy, but does play with other toys regularly as well.

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WilliamShatner · 28/06/2014 20:01

Funny you should mention a duck! He has found one of the cats toys which is a duck and has been chewing on that today! The cat got it at christmas and looked at it with complete disdain, so the puppy is welcome to it!

He has the inner of a cardboard roll, but that is a fab idea to fold over the ends with treats.

At the moment the treats he has say no more than two a day because he's little but we cut them in half and he gets them for special praise.

Today we can see how much he has grown as he can now get on things he previously couldn't!

His spells on being awake and playing with us in the garden are getting longer and whereas he used to just stop and fall asleep almost instantly, he now will lay down for a bit and look around him and either get a second wind or ask to be picked up!

He seems to be growing upwards as his legs are becoming like Bambi's!

Good tip about nylabone. Glad your dog recovered.

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moosemama · 28/06/2014 20:29

Don't worry about using treats, use some of his normal daily kibble allowance.

My boy is lying in the middle of the living room floor demolishing the inside tube from a roll of foil as I type. He's bored this evening, because he has refused to go out and play in the garden today due to the rain - typical Lurcher. Hmm He'll go for a walk in it (with his raincoat on) but if it's raining when he sticks his head out of the back door he reverses into the kitchen and goes back to bed. Hmm Grin

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WilliamShatner · 28/06/2014 22:32

Hi moosemama, I have a lovely mental image of your dog by the back door looking out at the rain in disgust!

We've been lucky with the weather and when he's finished sleeping during the day or had his food we've been able to go outside and run around.

It's very noticeable how much his energy levels have gone up in the last week.

He was a quivery little baby one week ago, now he is cantering around the garden and dive bombing on leaves or our feet!

Our clickers are winging their way to us. I bought Karen Pryor I-click x 5 from Amazon and we were discussing treats earlier. We will use his normal kibble as treats. Good tip. Thank you.

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