What toys do you leave them when they're alone?
 

I haven't heard of too many toys that are safe to leave dogs while they're unattended - and I don't like to give a lot of treats (don't want them to get fat!). I just got my babies' puppy play pen all set up in the basement so that is where they're at while I'm at work now versus their crate (I come home over the lunch hour). Just wondering what people leave for their furbabies to keep them from getting bored when they're left alone? Buster & Bailey are 8 months old now. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

i leave molly tubos, its a tube that you can stuff with chicken or cheese,or wotever your dogs will eat, it takes molly a while to get the treat out of the tubos, i also got a playball from pets at home, it has a few little holes in it, so when they roll it around now and again a treat will fall out, it can be a healthy treat and keep them amused at the same time, molly is home for 4 hrs a day alone, and i find this helps, goodluck.xnanx.

I've noticed that during the day...when they're left alone or not...they're sleeping. So I don't leave them any treats or anything like that. Plus they're all over a yr now....so I don't have to worry about dangerous toys.

When they were younger, I only left toys that they can chew on & kept them downstairs. No treats or anything that they can potentially choke on. Back then...left alone...they slept too.:)

I have noticed that if I give them a really tough kong (hard for the treat to come out) and they have to work on it for a long time, they are really tired when I come home (which tells me they didn't sleep very much while I was away!). Maybe I won't feel so bad if I think of it that way. I'm hoping that I can get some ideas so I can change things up, but we shall see!

I leave all of their toys out for them. The ones they seem to love the most right now (and it does rotate from time to time) are:
-Crinkle butterflies (they sound like cellophane crinkling when they chew on them)
-Dr. Noys Toys, squirrel & chipmunk are current favs
-Stretchy gecko
-Squirrels in the Tree Puzzle Toy Jr.
-Recordable Treat Ball (has a recording of my voice on it)
-Blue Loofa Dog (Ben got in last GE)
-Paws Toss Ring
-Fleece Braid
-Plush Basketbal that makes crowd noises when rolled
-Dogtronics Monkey -- they all LOVE this (also from last GE)
-and their Taco Bell Talking dog

-- that is what is scattered about on the floor right now. My house is really starting to look like the Petsmart toy aisle! I do put them all back in the basket at least once or twice a day. But they quickly let me know they prefer them strewn about.

They have 24 hour access to their toys. They mostly play with each other. I give them chew bones also.

Thanks - your little one looks SO much like my Buster! I don't have any recent pics of him posted, but I thought your pic was of my dog they look so much alike. They are both so cute of course!

Good to know - I'm always on the look out for some new toys :O) Thanks for the list!!

Her kong with a ziggie in it, that's her stay at home alone treat. The only time she gets it is if I have to leave her home alone, she knows what's up when she sees the treat and is ok with it now.

I find it doesn't matter what I leave with Genghis. It could be a bully stick, it could be a juicy steak. He won't touch it, till we get back. He won't drink water or eat food either, but he will pee and poo non stop till we are back. I think he's getting better but this anxiety thing is starting to worry me.

Gucci has soooo many toys it's unbelievable, but I too worry about leaving him along with certain things so I leave him with:

*2 of His Hide-A-Toys (Squirrel,Bee,Turtle or IQube - I also sell these if anyone needs info on them)
*1 Egg Baby Turtle (This takes him forever to get the eggs out of and he usually only gets 1 out so it keeps him busy forever)
*His Hedgehog Squeaky Plushes and TY Crinkle one
*His Tiny Ducky Toy he LOVES!
*2 Plush Froggies

I never leave:
Rope toys
Toys with Noses sewed on etc. ( he has eaten them and vomited them up before)
Hard Toys he can chew
Dr Noys (with the exception of the Ducky he got from his friend Tatortot15 it STAYS!) I don't leave to many because the squeakers are removable with velcro I worry he may get them out :( but he loves them to death!!
Or Treat Toys he doesn't use those :confused:


Hope that helps!!

I usually leave her "cuddly"(she seems to like soft toys far more than hard ones) and a chew of some description. But when I get in they are exactly where I left them. I've been told she just sits at the door for half an hour, then goes upstairs to bed.

I've never tried any of the hide-a-toys. Maybe I will try that! I know they play with the ones I leave them because they are strewn about they puppy room when I get home. If I can find them something to keep them a little less bored that would be GREAT! Thanks for the post!

They say most pets just sleep while we are gone.

Thanks - one more thing...toy dispenser?
 

Thanks for all the posts! I can't find any hide-a-toys sold where I live, but I found some Busy Buddy toys which Buster & Bailey love! And I am keeping a toy wish list for when I can go shopping when I actually get to a metro area. Buster & Bailey are so energetic, I know that they don't sleep all day when I'm gone because they tear up what few things I have left them that are destructable...like the kennel plush liner & a rug I left down for them. Maybe it will change as they get older? They get all the exercise that I have time for outside (about an hour per day) & play with each other all the time when they're inside. They now have some Busy Buddies, their Kongs, and a couple of plush toys that I will rotate for them. I may leave them nothing for half the day so they will sleep, but then the other 1/2 day it will be party time for them in the puppy room! I just have to remember to scale back their regular food (which I am still trying to find a good brand that I can afford, they're currently on Science Diet Small Bites Puppy dry dog food which I found out is not very good!).

P.S. Does anyone know where I can buy an automatic toy dispenser? I saw something called Kongtime on the show "It's me or the dog" & I looked it up online but it looks like it's out of stock everywhere & has been discontinued.