08 October 2010

Mina's top 5 (virtually) indestructible dog toys

aka: The Alternative Toy Story, Part 2

For a greyhound (shhh... we don't tell her that technically she's a lurcher) Mina is pretty good at destroying toys. As earlier blog posts have shown Mina is a Squeaker Seeker and Soft Toy Slayer Extraordinaire.

Over the years we've been on a mission to find toys that are 'Mina-proof' and, believe it or not, there are some toys that can withstand Mina's squeaker seeking ways. We've whittled these down to a list of the top 5, virtually indestructible (according to the Minaometer®) toys and thought we'd share them.

So, what's made it onto the list? In true Hollywood style, the results are in reverse order.

The top 5 most Mina- proof toys...

5. Company of Animals - frisbee
Mina & her 'fantasy flyer'

This frisbee is great. Mina can run with it, shake it around, chew it and all without breaking it. The frisbee is pretty easy for me to carry on walks and really does provide a good moving target to retrieve.

It's also big enough to see if she does drop it in the field. It would have been higher up the list had it not been for one minor flaw:  the domed top of it often comes off. It's easy to clip back on, but is a bit inconvenient. 
 
What I love about it even more is that when our play session has ended, Mina's job is to carry it all the way home!  The frisbee, known as a Fantasy Flyer, costs around £4.99



4.  Kong Classic
Mina & her Kong in 2005
Where would we be without the Kong Classic? This was one of the first dog toys I discovered for Mina - under the guise of a boredom buster to help with separation anxiety.

The Kong Classic has been stuffed with kibble, broken up dog biscuits, bits of liver cake and 'plugged' with Kong paste or Primula cheese spread and has helped keep Mina calm and my house destruction free!

Kongs come in sizes from small to XXL and cost from around £4.80 to £16. For serious chewers there's even an Extreme version in black rubber and there is a range for both puppies and seniors too.


3.  Ruff Dawg Stick

Have I mentioned that Mina loves to run, fetch and chase things? Anyone who follows me on Twitter, will know that Mina can be quite accident prone when she's enjoying a run or game, so the Ruff Dawg Stick is a godsend!

Mina loves sticks and I'm always preventing her from picking them up as I don't want any splinters or accidents happening, particularly as Mina is so accident-prone.

The Ruff Dawg Stick is great - a big rubbery, indestructible stick that Mina just loves. We can play games of fetch, both inside and outside the house, and if it gets mucky, it's very easy to clean. It's also very easy to spot in a field full of autumn leaves - unlike a real stick. 

The Ruff Dawg Stick costs around £10.99 and in my, and Mina's opinion, is a great buy.


2.  Orka Jack
Did you ever play jacks as a kid? The kind with a small rubber ball and little metal jacks that you had to pick up? Well, I loved playing jacks and so does Mina, particularly with her Orka Jack.

It's not quite the jack you may remember from childhood - it's bright turquoise for a start and has a rope through the middle - but it's just as much fun to play. It's covered in knobbly bits, which Mina loves to chew, and the rope allows it to be used as a tug toy too.

It's great to throw as well and can bounce a fair distance, whether it's thrown by me or the dog! Mina has managed to un-knot the rope before, but it was easy just to thread it back through and knot it again. When the rope got a bit smelly I popped the Orka Jack in the washing machine and it came out like new.  Mina has the large size which costs around £10.


1.  And the winner is..... The Pentapull
I have to say the Pentapull takes a very deserved first place, particularly as it's the only non-rubber toy on the list.

It's made of durable webbing and can come with, or without, a squeaker (I chose a duck without a squeaker). It has 5 'arms' and can be used for games of tug, for throwing about, shaking...


I bought it at Crufts in March 2010 and seven months later it's still going strong and is in one piece.  Mina just loves it (as does Jasper) and seems to really enjoy throwing it about and playing games of tug.

The only real signs of wear and tear are around the duck's neck (awww, poor duckie). All in all though, it has certainly beaten the record for any other soft toys.




It is also the most expensive toy on the list and retails for around £16.99 but to me, is worth every penny. It's great to see Mina playing with a soft(ish) toy that lasts and can't have the stuffing picked out of it.






'All good (toy) stories must come to an end'
So, there you have it: a list of toys - all tested by Mina - and all still going strong after months and even years.

We've just found out about a brand of toys called Skineez, which I'm trying to find for sale in the UK. They look exactly like the sort of toy Mina would love - flattened versions of rabbits, squirrels etc (not real ones - I hasten to add).

Mina and I would love to know what toys your dogs like, so don't be shy and please leave a comment.


Thank you

12 September 2010

Dogs and fireworks

A scary Saturday for Stevie
Fireworks are stressful for many dogs
Before I had dogs I always loved fireworks. The whooshes, fizzes, pops and bangs and glorious technicolour displays plus the smell of gunpowder always evoked childhood memories of bonfire night, eating jacket potatoes around the bonfire, making silly shapes with sparklers and generally having a great time. But not anymore.

Yesterday I was provided with an early reminder of the effects that fireworks can have on our dogs...

We'd spent the afternoon and evening at my Mother in Law's house and just as we were about to leave, at around 9pm, someone started letting off fireworks - the very loud kind that make the windows rattle and dogs howl, cower and shake.

The effect on Stevie was immediate and very distressing to see. The first firework went off while he was snoozing in the lounge. Within a nano-second, his ears pricked up, he stood up and started to shake. His heart was racing and he had nowhere to escape to. We managed to make it to the car between bangs and unfortunately, just as the hounds got into the car a loud bang went off, making poor Stevie even more fearful.  We drove away quickly and left the firework sounds a long way behind us.

Our drive home is a good half hour's drive away, yet Stevie was still shaking when we got home. He immediately ran up stairs to his dog bed, in the quietest corner of the house, and stayed there panting, shaking and with his heart racing.  It took a long time for him to calm down.

Stevie is very fearful of fireworks

It's only the beginning of September and bonfire night is about 8 weeks away.  New Year's Eve is even further off. However, last night's events were a salutary and somewhat timely reminder of what is to come

There are some great web resources to help all of us prepare our dogs for what is now turning into a weekend or even weeks of firework 'celebrations.' 

I've listed a few of my favourite sites below. They're all packed with practical and realistic advice to help us help our dogs, at what is a very stressful time for our pets.

  • Dogs and Fireworks is a fantastic site which was established last year by some great friends of mine. It includes a free e-book, packed full of practical advice, and a free MP3 of firework noises.
  • There's also the Sounds Scary CD which can be used in the weeks running up to bonfire night to help desensitise your dog to firework sounds

So, where does this leave me with Stevie?  Well, I'll definitely be following the advice in the websites I've listed above.  I'll begin with gradually introducing him to the noises of fireworks by using  prerecorded sounds of fireworks. I'll also be using a DAP collar and diffuser, and making sure Stevie has a quiet den that he can escape to and feel safe in.

I certainly won't be letting off any fireworks when the 5th of November arrives. I'll walk all the dogs early, close the curtains, turn the TV up loud and keep the house as calm as possible.

Most of all, I will breathe a huge sigh of relief once the weekend of 5 November is out the way and then take a deep breath to start preparing for New Year's Eve.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...