Plush but Durable Dog Toys

Denali, I think like most dogs really enjoys the feeling of plush toys and sinking his teeth into something soft. He also loves whipping the toy around his head, a la a wild dog breaking the prey's neck. And of course, his favorite part is the gutting. He is never prouder of himself than after successfully gutting a toy.

Having a Great Dane puppy demands a new level of durability not found in most toys. It may be lab proof, but it says nothing about a great dane puppy being able to fit the whole toy in his mouth. So, we quickly got better at selecting durable toys. Our two favorite brands are Tuff Toys and Huggle Hounds. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

First Tuff Toys:
These toys are the gold standard of durability. They say they have "Tuff Technology" but I don't know what that means. What I do know is that the stitching is very good, although not indestructible, and their Tuff Scale is pretty good. Basically the more complicated the toy is (with more grooves and ridges) the more vulnerable it is. Denali's favorite was the shark, because he first tore out its teeth. The most durable toy I believe might be their doughnut ring: with no openings, there are fewer opportunities for ripping the toy to shreds.

Huggle Hounds:
We found Huggle Hounds a little later in Denali's development (around 8 months). He loved the soft exterior material (corduroy?) and the plushness. The stitching on these is also very good, and the toys definitely stayed intact for much longer than most plush ones. I also love how cute they are! We had the skunk, rabbit, moose, and raccoon. Their long toys are also great. Denali and Murray (a dog we dogsit) love whipping it around the house, and it seems to be less a chew toy than a whipping toy. These have also showed good resilience.

Puppy Notes: The Importance of Toys
We got through Denali's puppyhood relatively unscathed. He only destroyed two beds (gutting them) and chewed the edge of a bookshelf--but that was later after we had thought he was ready to be out of the crate (obviously we were wrong.) We think this is not only from crate training him, and keeping an eye on him at all times (much like a toddler), but because he has always had a full basket of toys. He probably has about 15 toys in his basket. If you give the dog enough proper things to chew they won't be as tempted to chew your furniture and other belongings. Also, we tried to praise him whenever he was playing with his toys. Finally, whenever he wasn't chewing on an appropriate object, (I could always tell because the apartment was eerily quiet), I would grab an appropriate toy, run into the room, clap loudly (to jar his concentration, say no, and replace it with one of his toys.) Usually, I would wait until he started playing with the new toy and then praise him. When you tell a dog what they can't do, it is important to give them things they can.