Do You Rotate Your Dog's Toys?

Sam314159 · 12-01-2011, 04:38 PM

I've read two contradicting opinions on this matter and I was curious about what y'all thought.

Rocco, our 16 week old Min Pin, has about 15 toys from squeakers to balls to chew bones. We keep all his toys in a toy chest.

Is it better to:

A. Keep all toys out of his reach and only give him 1-2 at a time for a couple of days then rotate them out so he doesn't lose interest in them.

B. Give toy chest to puppy and let him choose which one he wants to play with.

Right now, I just give Rocco his toy chest and he loves to make a mess of it! He will pull them out and toss them around before he gets his usual favorite.

Also, I'm really curious as to what makes a puppy love a toy so much. Is there something in dog psychology that would make a puppy love a toy so much more than others? Rocco pulls out the same purple squirrel almost every single time out a chest filled with toys. He will sometimes dump the whole chest upside down if it's at the bottom so he can get his squirrel and toss him around. We thought it was the smell but he still loves it even after we washed a couple of times it. We also thought it was the shape or the sound of the squeaky but he is much less interested in the green squirrel which is identical in every other way. I was just curios to see if anyone understood this a little better than I do.

swimityswim · 12-01-2011, 04:49 PM

Never occurred to me to rotate the dog's toys. He has a couple upstairs and a couple downstairs and isn't interested in having any outside.

However, I did realise that he had missed his grotty, ripped old bath robe when I returned it after it had been washed so he definitely has a favourite 'toy' that I wouldn't choose to take from him if I was to swap things around to keep him interested.

**kmes** · 12-01-2011, 07:09 PM

I rotate toys every few days. I have accumulated a ton, so it helps with clean up (less to pick up each day-though they still always have a basket full) and keeps the toys more interesting since just when they start to get tired of the toys, I bring out "new" ones.

Leroy does have several favorites (stuffed alphabet blocks) that I leave out much longer. He has 5 or 6 since they were only $1 each and doesn't really seem to favor one over the others. So I leave half out until they need washed, at which point I give him the fresh blocks and clean the dirty ones, putting them aside for later.

Other favorites such as kongs and cowhooves are only down when I am watching, otherwise I end up with someone (aka Penny) stealing toys from the other dogs and taking them to her bed to RG. She doesn't chew, only sits with them around her while giving the other dogs the "look".

seebrown · 12-01-2011, 10:58 PM

Coconut has 2 boxes of toys that I switch out once or twice a week. She doesn't have any that are her all-time favs, but she does like a set out of each box. She gets excited when I switch boxes & will dig through it and pull one out to throw around. Its cute. I think you can do what works for you & whatever keeps your dog interested in toys & not bored.

Posted via Mobile Device

albelee · 12-02-2011, 12:30 AM

Thought these creatures have short term memories?

Cassy · 12-02-2011, 05:48 PM

I heard a lot of people say that they rotate their dogs' toys - i don't.

We have a cabinet full of toys and my dog will open the cabinet door and pick out the toy that she wants.
But down the basement she does get tried of the toys down there every few weeks, then i'll just get a toy from the cabinet and bring it down.

I'm going with B.

seebrown · 12-02-2011, 06:42 PM

The nice thing about having two sets is that if she's getting irritating (barking at random noises, bothering the cat, etc.) pulling out the new box will keep her entertained for awhile.

I don't think dogs have long term memories like ours, but they do have some type of long term memory, otherwise they wouldn't recognize you when you get home after work.

emma09 · 12-05-2011, 07:42 PM

We rotate ours. We will take their old ones and wash them and then bring out the other set. It seems like my dogs get a little bored with the toys every month or so, so we bring in a whole set of (new to them) toys.

Squirrelflight · 12-06-2011, 06:33 AM

My older chis dont play with toys a lot but they both have a favorite that is out all the time and if they want something 'new' they steal it from the puppy pen.. lol

For the puppies, they are in a 6x7 indoor puppy pen we built. I keep 6-8 toys in there at all times. once a day I take out 3 and put in 3 new ones. They have several favorites so sometimes I will leave those in a few days. I have a bunch of toys so if they start getting fussy, bored, or just wrestling too loud while I'm watching tv I can toss in something new.

For yours you might try a combination of the two.. stick to the toy chest but switch out a few of the toys in the chest for new things for him to find every few days. Plus, if your like me you may soon find you have more toys than will fit in his toy chest anyway! hahaha

Abluedog · 12-06-2011, 01:56 PM

Toys don't last long enough for me to rotate them out. Her all time fave is a Kong that has the squeaker in it... DRIVES ME NUTS but she loves it to pieces and tennis balls... lots and lots of them. Those never get old and she doesn't chew them...