After buying multitudes of pet toys, only to be destroyed within minutes… or sometimes days, I decided to look at the thrift store stuffed animal bins.
The kind of animals I went looking for needed to be bright, have no buttons, eyes, or extra pieces sewn on that would choke them, not too furry, and possibly have dangling arms or such that the boys could carry them without having to stuff the whole thing in their mouth. I also kept in mind what they were filled with… little balls were definitely out. My boys only care about finding the squeaker, and defluffing the animal.
Out of two large bins, we found 7, with one being an actual dog toy with a squeaker (bonus!).
We brought them home, and put them through the washer and dryer.
This morning we gave them to the boys. They were super excited.
The heart didn’t have a chance. It was defluffed in minutes.
I understand dog toys are made to last longer and are supposed to be more heavy duty than stuffed animals. However, when your dogs destroy a $15 or $20 toy in minutes like it was a cheap dollar store animal, it is time to rethink where we get their enrichment.
For now, we are going cheap. Thrift store animals and boxes (I have mentioned the boys love to chew up boxes on my Facebook page). Their need right now is for chewing and keeping busy. They do not “eat” the fluff or boxes, just chew. This has prevented them from chewing up my furnature.
Gus
