Toys, Toys, & More Toys!
We all know the story, we buy this amazing and fun toy for our fur baby or we get one in our amazing Pet Treater pack, and we say this is THE one. The one that will become the new favorite, the one that will make all the others pale in comparison. This is the one that will last more than 22.7 minutes…….
………Well, another one bites the dust, but why? Do the major tough toys made of solid amazing rubber last longer than the fun, cute and squeaked-filled stuffed toys or even the more durable chew ones that are cute and fun? Well, of course ! They are also less fun, really cumbersome to throw around and become a savagely mutated looking chew toy.
SO exactly WHY do most toys not make it?
- Bored: your sweet fur baby is bored. So your fur baby, and cats included on this one, is tired of the daily hum drum routine and scratching up the couch and eating the shoes is just not enough today! Too much pent up energy? Enter the plush toys and their untimely demise. Maybe your pooch was just tired of this ever present toy lingering in his/her toy box and it had to be destroyed. Believe it or not, cats will literally rip little stuffed mice to shreds and you will find pieces here and there!
- It’s the Wrong Toy for the Job: A plush toy or thin latex toy can’t stand up to a determined (and bored) dog, and won’t provide the kind of constructive activity your dog needs when you’re not around. Always have options that provide for rotating needs.
- To a cat, a toy is a trophy and a treasured possession: This encourages cats to hide toys, so one day you find 5 toys under a love seat, but until then you have to get more & more & more!
- We Teach Dogs that Destroying Toys is Cute: We encourage them to tear them up, shred them, throw them around and then wonder why they do not last! Our positive attention encourages our dogs to continue pulling apart toys until it’s a hard habit to break.
- It’s All About the Prey Drive: When presented with a toy that makes a high pitched squeaky noise, many dogs will revert to a stylized version of the shake and kill pattern of their wild ancestors. You really can’t make this up and it is proven time and again, this prey-cry trigger can cause dogs to rip apart their toys in an effort to get to the sound and “kill” the squeak. Have you noticed that the thrill is gone for your dog once the squeaker is vanquished? Silencing the squeaker gives the “prey/kill” satisfaction to your dog!
IN THE END: We think it is a GOOD sign your pets LOVE on and even destroy their toys….it is a sign of playtime, fun, and energy boosting activities. They probably love putting on a show!
While we definitely LOVE toys to last a long time, who chooses what a LONG time is in the pet toy world anyways? We here at Pet Treater try to find those toys that just fit the bill: like the super cute and fun factor with a squeak squeak here and a bit of fluff and stuff here. While we do have the durable tough toys too for our boxes, we find that even though a toy may meet an earlier demise than we would like, how was the journey for your pet with that toy? Were they able to get all their energy into it and love that toy too much? We sure hope so.
VISIT US at Pet Treater and see what goodies we have to offer your fur baby or give us as a gift to someone you love, today!
Many Purrs and Barks,
