Can you recommend any good dog toys?

There are squeak balls that squeak when compressed and when compression is released. I’ve seen dogs go totally bonkers for this toy! They have giggle balls now that might keep a dog amused while not creating a mess or stains. But as for toys and food, a Kong filled with Kong filler are probably the best. You want something a dog will not chew to pieces and then require surgery to unblock their intestines.

I had a round ball with a hole through the middle that you could stick a stick tyoe treat through. Also, a toy with different compartments that F. had to life that you could put treats in. The Kong with the frozen mixed food in it was the best.

There is a toy called “Seek a treat” that is a board with little sliding compartment doors the dog paws at to uncover the food bits. My friend has one similar made in Sweden that is really cool but not knowing the actual brand name the “seek a treat” is the closest I could come up with.

For some reason, my dog loves this. It has a plush head and tail, and the body has a velcro opening to put an empty water bottle. The crunching and noise is ridiculous, but it really keeps her attention for long periods of time.

My dogs loved chasing an old rugged Frisbee designed for dogs. They rarely caught it but they loved to chase it. They played with that right up until I lost one of them.

My trainer lent me a few homemade toys that were great. One was a braid of rags with loose ends that you dangled and he went for. The other was like a fishing pole with a fabric thing on the end that was kind of like a mouse. You dangled and ran around with it and he chased and caught it. By the way, she told me never to play “chase ” with him – which was his favorite game.

I interacted with a puppy yesterday who had his own teddy bear.
The bear was a small grey one about 8” tall and had a squeeky toy in the middle which made a noise each time it was bitten.
The pup was having a great time shaking it, throwing it over her head and then bounding and pouncing after it.
You would hear this “Squeeeeek…. Tromp! Tromp! Tromp! Tromp! Tromp! ........................Whammm! Squeek!squeek!squeek!squeek!” and then it would be repeated again and again!
I don’t imagine the bear will last very long but that was one happy puppy.

Each of my dogs loved those soft sheepskin or furry animal toys. Prince ripped the sheepskin ones to shreds but Frodo just loved playing tug of war with Foxy and Squirrely.

These are not food-based toys though.

An empty plastic, disposable water bottle inside an old sock; tie off the sock top to keep the bottle in. Our dogs love the crinkling noise the plastic makes when they bite or step on the sock.

My dogs love softer, teddy type toys. Unfortunately my boy also likes to rip them to shreds and if they have a squeeker in them, I’d estimate a life expectancy of about 5–10 minutes. It’s brutal. I’ve bought them the really tough toys, but they’re never so popular.

My girl loves her toys. She’s gentle and takes care of them. She collects them all up and puts them on her bed. And she’s been seen sneaking off with Ollie’s toys while he’s not looking :D

So I guess the toys you can buy will be determined by your dog’s personality. My girl wouldn’t ever rip up her toys. Ollie on the other hand…

Coloma’s suggestion sounded interesting. I found this: Ethical Pet Seek-A-Treat Shuffle Bone Dog Puzzle for nine bucks. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how this thing is supposed to teach a dog good ethics—I wasn’t aware this was even a problem—but it does look like something a dog might dig. I suppose if the dog peeks when you hide the morsels in the holes, that would be unethical. But is a dog being unethical when he is merely following his doggy nature? Oh, I get it. This leads to the next puzzle, the Philosophical-Seek-A-Treat. Now that’s smart market planning. Those smarty-pants Swedes did it again.

Thanks, guys! Researching all those ideas! :)