We have a four legged rubber thing - stands on three legs withothe fourth in the air. It is four years old and has survived daily maulings and chews.
Most popular are rag doll type toys - enjoyment even after the squeak is out and the whole eviscerated.
Empty mineral water bottles provide hours of fun. _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
Hard mouth - I have heard the chewing toys = hard mouth argument -- but would like to know how it squares with giving dogs dried food to crunch up. _________________ Guy, Ellie, Topaz, Catja and in memory Barley
Beauty from Structure
www.epagneulbreton.org.uk
I think this whole " hard mouth" toy thing is nonsense. A Brittany does know the difference between a stuffed squeaky toy which they love to play with...and a real bird. After all they are not in work mode 24/7 so some bonding and play time is good and reinforces the relationship between dog/ owner.
Mine's favourite toys are cuddly toys, they are not so expensive to buy from car boots and the fun they have is worth it. My best bitch Ivry was like a kid at Christmas when I used to buy her a stuffed toy. And she never had a hard mouth.
One thing I don't do though is play tug of war and actually encourage them to hold the toy before I throw it for them in a game.
Surely chewing toys, shredding them, being dragged around the floor playing tuggie and mouthing them is different than crunching up (and sometimes not) of dried food - the process of playing and eating is different.
That said - i do not regard the playing of toys leads to hard mouth, i drag Monet around the floor when we are playing tuggie and he has a hard grip, but when it comes to game, they come back to hand without any damage:-D
Obsession, i know comes from a dog playing with its favourite toy everyday... it took me years to break Poppy from ball obsession and it cost loads in vet bills as without her ball she would chew herself raw.
Dominance, allegedly thats through letting your dog win at games such as raggie... unfounded in my view, as i sometimes let Monet win and he is the least dominant dog i know, anyway you have to win sometimes or a game becomes boring!
Guarding, none of my dogs have ever done this. When they are puppies i take away their toys and food - they know that they are going to get them back eventually, so they feel no threat. However, my friend has collies and one in particular guards and takes the other dogs toys; she stands over the toys growling at any dog/human that approaches. Maybe its because they are rescues, i really don't know.
Mouthing, well which dog doesn't, different textures need to be investigated... we handle with hands, they use their mouth, no difference in my eyes. Again, Monet has a pheasant toy with a weird sound if mouthed - he doesn't reproduce the mouthing on pheasants to see if they make a noise.
Saying this however, it does not mean that other dogs react the same way, that is why i said...
Quote:
In the same breath... it could be argued that toys also cause dominance, guarding, obsession and hard mouth
the emphasis should have been on it could be argued
Anyway dogs need stimulating physically and mentally, they also need love and nurturing... combine that all together and you have a great companion/hunting dog, with in my case the emphasis on companion - so toys are a must for human/dog interaction.
I have heard people warning of tug-o-war games causing hard mouth problems and queried it with our old agility/obedience trainer as Tegen loves nothing better than fighting over a rope. She (the trainer) said she has found no evidence of problems in her dogs, and is of the opinion that it can teach good manners in a dog. I think I can understand what she means in this respect, as Tegen will let go of a rope immediately on being told to and will not resume play, even with the item being waved about her face, until being told “okay”. Remi’s favourite toys appear to be any static items (usually ball, bone or rope) which attempt to evade capture , and Tegen. _________________ If a job's worth doing, it's worth paying somebody else to do it properly
With all due respect...what breed has this obedience trainer has?
Owning and working a gundog- we are not talking Labs here- to a good level has to be done in a considerate manner imo.
As for guarding toys, dominance etc: Maybe some Brittanys owners might mention their problem on here ?
How do you use your toys? In my case they are" my toys" which I allow the dogs to play with for a time and then they are put away apart from chews such as dental type toys...
Aren't sticks every bit as dangerous as loo rolls? my dogs don't have sticks, I would worry that they argue over them, they split and go down their gullets.
That's exactly why there is one more stick than the number of dogs in each run.
I cut the sticks green each year, around about this time when I'm pruning the bushes. As we speak two of last year's are still in existence, the others have gone missing over the year. Perhaps the bushes we have here are very hard wood but they certainly don't split. Tam seems to collect them up at feeding time and I have to redistribute them.
Pat McCabe lost at least two dogs from eating a cardboard packing case and Neill McWhirter lost a lab from eating a shoe box. I don't know of anybody who's lost a dog from chewing wood and I have had wooden kennels destroyed for several decades until I went to all metal framesd kennel boxs and fencing about five years ago which is when I started with the sticks to give them something to chew.
My dogs have never been allowed to guard - either from me or each other. If any dog shows sign of posession then all toys are removed - if necessary being removed from the jaws of the offender (not advocating you get into a confrontation unless you are very sure of what you are doing) and the dog who was messing is put out of the way - then I get the toys out again and play with the 'good' dogs.
Amazing how watching from the sidelines can teach manners!!!
Saying this Piper is still struggling with guarding and most of the work I do with him and toys is well away from the others. One method I use is flooding the dog with identical toys (one time I use tennis balls) and I keep swapping so he realises there is no value in guarding one ball as the fun of the balls is in the chase.
I never leave my dogs with treat toys when I am not there - it would be too much to expect them to 'share' filled kongs as they all eat theirs at different speeds. The only toys they are left with are 3 massive raggers - they play together and individually with these and despite the differing sizes they are well matched.
Chase does play tuggy - trained as per working trials and taught me by my friend who trains her dogs (HPR and GSD) to do manwork so he is only allowed to 'take' when cued and he has to 'out' when told. We don't do it often - just to remind him of the out command as we did go through a rather embarrassing stage of him grabbing ladies skirts . _________________ Sue, Chase and the non-Brittany boys - Brice & Piper. Pets first and foremost.
What?
Sorry if my reply is wrong but i wasn't sure where you were going! So apologies before hand...
Monets' toys are left in the corner of the sitting room until he instigates play with visitors, Poppy or me, or he chooses to play with one on his own... the toys are not mine they are the dogs', though if i decide to take one, i will and he has no objection.
The reason for mentioning Poppy, is that she is a significant part of Monets life - it is important that they maintain a healthy living relationship with one another - one important part of this is sharing ... toys are an important factor in this. I used her as an example to do with obsession and how balls in her case were the problem - just because she is not an EB - did that really matter?
This household is very peaceful, we have no fights or petty squabbles, it is a sharing family home and the main focus is on play
I only have two dogs in the house most of the day, but in the evening Hester goes through to the lounge to watch television, and the girls come in and we play or not, as they wish. The toys are just lying around - they are neither mine nor theirs - they bring them to me if they want me to join in their games or they play with each other. It is very free and easy, sometimes we all just watch television together in the back room. None of them have chewed anything since they were puppies. I never have fights or growling because I keep Hester away from the little girls. That is just Hester - she is a German WP, has a temper, and doesn't allow anyone to use her towel sorry, toy.
_________________ Annie
Handle every situation like a dog, if you can't eat it or play with it, just pee on it and walk away
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, and Tegen.
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