What's the Best Toys for Dogs?

Picking the best toys isn't always a simple task — there's a huge range of styles, sizes and materials. Choosing an unsuitable toy can not only harm their development, but their health too.

Some toys are made from toxic materials, which we should avoid entirely. The same goes for toys that encourage aggression. That's why, here at SoyUnPerro, we're going to explain which toys are most suitable for your dog, and how to use them.

What Type of Toy Does My Dog Need?

This is the key question we all need to ask ourselves, regardless of which type of toy we like best for them. Every dog needs a different type of toy depending on their age, size and breed.

There are highly energetic dogs who need fetch-type toys to burn off energy, while others are lazier and simply need an entertainment toy. Puppies, on the other hand, need more cognitive toys, and above all, soft ones, so as not to damage their fragile but sharp milk teeth.

If your dog is large, they'll need large toys to stop them accidentally swallowing it and choking or causing digestive problems. If your dog is small, they'll need smaller toys suited to smaller teeth.

So, every type of dog needs different toys. It's our responsibility to choose them properly so they not only enjoy them, but so they're not dangerous for them or for others.

Special Toys for Puppies

Puppies need cognitive toys made from soft but sturdy materials, such as latex. We can give our puppy a fabric or rope toy, but they'll end up unravelling it and could choke.

What puppies love most is biting, since, because of the teething period and them discovering the world, biting things tends to be one of their passions. A good bone-, plate- or animal-shaped latex chew toy can be a great idea to keep them entertained.

We can also use latex balls, with or without texture, to get them used to playing with them and running to fetch them as they roll.

Toys for Small and Large Dogs

Adult dogs have different needs from puppies, though they also love chewing things, and they also love playing more actively with toys.

More active dogs will love a ball or a frisbee, the typical flying disc. By constantly running to fetch it, they'll burn off energy and also feel happy finding it and bringing it back to their owner.

It matters to teach them to drop the toy when they bring it back, so we can throw it for them again. This way, besides having fun, they learn obedience. The material the toys are made from also matters a great deal.

Adult dogs have stronger teeth and a more forceful bite, so we should look for toys made from rubber or vinyl, highly sturdy materials suited to being bitten (they don't release toxins).

Less active dogs who don't like running as much can entertain themselves with a rope-style tugger (but made of rubber), or even a rope one, as long as we watch to make sure they don't break it and swallow the threads.

For both large and small dogs, the Kong is also an ideal toy for keeping them entertained. It's a toy made from a highly sturdy material, with a gap where we can put food or treats for dogs.

Our dogs will have a great time chewing the Kong looking for their treats, staying entertained for long stretches. Intelligence games, which require the dog to press part of the toy to release a reward, are also highly advisable.

How to Make Home-Made Toys

The problem with toys made from high-quality materials is that, despite being very long-lasting, they're not cheap. If our budget is a bit limited and we want to make a cheap, home-made toy for our dog, all we'll need is some old clothes.

An old T-shirt is more than enough to make a fantastic toy — we simply need to tie as many knots in it as possible, until it looks like a kind of ball.

Our dog will have a great time chewing it and trying to undo the knots. Even so, we always need to keep an eye on them so they don't tear the fabric and swallow it, since they could choke.

We can do the same with an old pair of jeans or an old jumper, first removing any zips and metal parts to stop their teeth getting damaged.

Toys We Should Avoid

There's a large number of toys that aren't very advisable for a dog, since they could encourage inadvisable habits or even harm their health.

Toys that make a sound when chewed, such as the classic rubber ducks that give off a kind of squeak when squeezed, should be avoided entirely.

If a dog bites and the toy "squeals", the dog will identify it as real prey, thinking they need to kill it. This will get them very excited and they'll want to play a lot with the toy, but it will also teach them not to let go of another animal if they bite it, even if it squeals.

This type of toy overly develops dogs' hunting instinct and their tendency not to let go of prey. It's not advisable at all, being harmful to their training and development.

Toys made from poor-quality plastic not only break easily into small pieces that can end up choking our dog. They're also made from plastics unsuitable for biting, since they release toxins.

These toxins can cause serious harm to our dog's health in the short and medium term, even causing their death. Investing a little in the quality of the toys is the same as investing in our dog's quality of life.