Toys for a dog with a short attention span

[buffy16938]

I tried searching and couldn't find too much, I was wondering if anyone had similar circumstances. I have been looking for good ideas for toys that would occupy Sophie. She has a very short attention span, which I understand is normal for a puppy. She has a kong that she will play with when it has food in it for a few minutes, it seems nothing is more interesting than an edible bone for a few minutes. Does anyone have any good ideas for toys that might entertain her for awhile? She has squeaky toys, balls, cat balls that make sounds, 3-4 different nylabones. She has done so well with potty training that I like to leave her out, but sometimes I'm trying to study, or like now post a question on here and I would like for her to be more entertained and not looking for trouble. Thank you!

[means143]

My 6-month old puppy also has short attention span.

She plays with her Kong until she can't get the food in it or she had already finished eating it in 3minutes.

She gets excited chasing laser light and gets bored with it after 2 minutes.

She chews on her 5" Bully Stick for several minutes then falls asleep. She consumed one bully stick until it's 2" long after 6 weeks!

But she never gets tired of her tug-o-war toys until I stop pulling the other end.

So I guess, sorry I am no help. On the brighter side, I'm glad she gets bored with her toys easily, because of this she was not yet able to destroy any of them

[MissSophie]

We have a Sophie too, and she has never liked a particular toy. She is 7 y/o and has a basket stuffed full of toys. She has never ruined a toy and still has toys she got on the night we brought her home. The one thing she really liked the most was something that was not a dog toy. It was purchased for a baby but didn't get there. It is a cube (soft/cloth) with an opening on one side. Inside are shapes of all types that have various sounds such as crumple paper, squeak, etc. She would stick her whole head inside and pull out the shapes, then throw them around the room. She hasn't shown much interest in this lately, but it kept her busy for a long time a couple years ago.

[daniellealberta]

Spike has similar attention span problems, but they are better now he is a little bit older. You don't say how your dog is, but if she is a pup, it will get a little better with age. It took me a few weeks to figure out which of Spike's toys he preferred, once I figured it out, I took the rest of them away, and I was left with about six. He has two out at any one time, so that when he gets bored with the two, he has four more that I can replace them with. I find that a lot of people put out tons of toys for their dogs, but that the dog is more happy with one or two of his favorites, rather than two dozen! Also, because the toys are out all the time, they quickly get bored with them.

In Spike's case, he has:

1) a toy duck that he has had since he was very small,
2) his everlasting treat ball,
3) his kong, which I fill with kibble, and then I plug the hole with some wet food and freeze it, so it's harder for him to get out.
4) stuffed (plush) bone with a squeaker in that he tries to get the stuffing out of (Dollarama - $1 each!)
5) some rubber (not wooden) corks from wine bottles. He loves to chew them, but I'll only let him play with them when I am there, because he can chew them into smaller pieces.
6) his favorite thing right now is a 500mL water bottle that I fill about 1/3 full with kibble (you can use whichever food or treat will motivate your pup). He spends hours rolling the bottle around, trying to tip it, and picking it up and throwing it so the kibble will come out. It's how I give him his dinner!

The other thing he really likes are rawhide bones. We started out with the smallest ones, but I moved up a size because he's become a good little chewer, and the larger bones take him longer to chew, but are still small enough for him to hold on his own.

Good luck!

[fall0317]

ice cubes!!

[ReyesJ]

Here's an idea. I bought my Grace a Roll-A-Treat ball. Got it on EBay. You basically put some kibbles in the ball (let your dog see you put them in - stirs up curiosity) and place the ball on the floor and the treats dispense as the dog plays with the ball. It keeps my Grace occupied for quite some time. Just yesterday I went down to my mother's house because she wasn't feeling well. Grace rolled the ball from upstairs down to my Mom's house so that her little nosy self could be around her grandma while she played. The ball is a bit big for her but she loves it nonetheless.

[chachi]

Mine like bully sticks and cuz balls

[mwatson6]

My last yorkie totally ignored any toy offered but plush toys. She would yank them up by the neck and give a good shake! Then she would be intent on removing eyeballs. Her favorite toys were the ones that were beat to death and blind. I don't know if she took the eyes out because she thought it was fun or creepy, and wonder if she loved the old blinded ones because of he happy memories of chewing eyeballs, or because they didn't stare at her. Either way, once the eyes were nearly out, I'd get the scissors and finish the task, then sew up the holes. They make doggie safe toys, but she only went for the toys that had hard plastic eyes. Go figure.

Our new pup loves ALL toys, however I notice she loves one long yellow doggie a little too much (humping). When that starts, I just take it away and reintroduce it later when she's not in the dominating mood. I know it doesn't matter that she does this, but I just don't want to encourage this behavior. Her current favorite toys are a hard plastic large thread spool, the cap to the carpet spray can, and she likes to push around an empty oatmeal box with some jingly toy inside. Juliet is a very busy playful doglet.