Toys For Big Dogs

We have all been there with the large puppy that your trying to train to walk properly , getting good control of a puppy is important and there are a few tools which work and some which don’t !

Today we are going to cover our experiences with the Halti collar.

Bit of a mixed back on this one I am afraid , I have found that some of our dogs have taken to it immediately and some like to paw at their faces trying to remove it no matter what we do. I would suggest borrowing one and trying it on your dog before purchasing.

When a Halti works it really does work well enabling you to guide your dog by the nose ! The good thing about the Halti is that it does not prevent your dog from eating or drinking which is really important. It is also very important to pay close attention to the size of your dogs nose and the Halti you choose , too tight is very uncomfortable , too loose is asking for trouble

Some tips , introduce the Halti at food time so that the dog gets used to wearing it, do this a few times before venturing outside ! If like us one of your dogs does not get on with the Halti there are other options.  We will talk about one of these tools next time.

We have had over five German Shepherd’s to date, our latest two (the sable shepherds) you can see in the banner picture for the site. Anybody who has had German Shepherd’s will know that they love to work (and run !).

We have tried a number of toys over the years which encourage them to really stride out , my favourite for a long time was a ball on a rope which was great for getting them to run. However no matter what i did , the rope rotted over time or got chewed through plus it wasn’t easy for other members of the family to throw far.

Then we discovered a ball thrower , by using one of these and then ordering used tennis balls off EBAY we have got  a perfect solution for our two hooligans. The great thing about the ball thrower is the distance and accuracy … If like us you then train the dogs to fetch and seek lost balls it makes a great mental game for them finding the tennis balls in long grass.

I would recommend a sturdy ball thrower which has a spring to help the throw , this model is the same as we use and has lasted us for a few years already.

I would never, ever advise anyone to let their dog have a roasted bone. These are the large chunks of bone (usually knuckle) found in a basket in pet stores with hard roast meat on them.  Don’t get me wrong, they smell delicious and according to the dogs taste amazing, but after spending hundreds of £’s at the vets with a dog screaming in agony ~ not something I ever want to hear again!  Why did this happen? Shards of roast bone were stuck inside my dog and as she strained to go to the toilet more were pushed through and cut her insides to pieces.  I thought I knew most things dog related, sadly that was a harsh and expensive lesson to learn.

Roast Bones = bad for dogs.

Cheap RAW meaty bones = good for dogs.

NB Do not confuse Roast Bones with the sterilised, stuffed marrow bones sold in Pet Stores. The stuffed marrow bones are a HIT with our dogs, just avoid anything roasted.

Our dog team have tried and tested many different types of Nylabone – from the little puppy chews to The Galileo which is very popular with our dogs, as is the Adult Nylabone for Powerful Chewers.  The dogs chew for a while, leave them in the garden and then go back to them time and time again.

The only thing that bothers me about these bones is the little shards of hard plastic that sometimes irritate the dogs gums after they have been chewed for months on end and then it is time to bin the bone and get a new one.  This wont break the bank as they have lasted a good 6 months on average.

The Extreme Kong Dog Toy is brilliant but it is not an outside toy, we have a couple of these for our pair of hooligans and they are virtually indestructible. They work best as something to occupy your dog’s mind when your dog is left alone.

We would recommend that you get the biggest possible for large breeds currently the extra large size !

One of the best techniques for these toys is to stuff them with something appealing for your dog, peanut butter works well straight out of the jar with a spoon and then top this with something harder to seal the peanut butter in, some dog biscuits work well for this. Once your dog smells the peanut butter they will work hard to get to it, typically this can be around an hour of entertainment for them. If you don’t fancy spooning the peanut butter in yourself there are a bunch of food sprays that you can use for this which come in a variety of flavours.. Using the nozzles makes it slightly easier than spooning in the food !

Or if you feed your dog dry food, soak some in water to soften then stuff into the Kong and freeze.  This makes your dog ‘work’ for their food rations and provides mental stimulation.