The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #147779   Message #3428388
Posted By: Crowhugger
30-Oct-12 - 12:46 PM
Thread Name: BS: good chewing ball for Yorkshire terrier?
Subject: RE: BS: good chewing ball for Yorkshire terrier?
GUEST is right about Kong. At the pet supply store just ask about toys for "heavy chewers". They'll be made of rubber, with or without a squeaker, with or without rippled or nubbled or other interesting surfaces. If choosing a hollow toy, choose one(s) with thick walls. Make sure it's small enough for a Yorkie to grip, as many heavy-chew toys are designed for Lab or pittie sized dogs.

Forget any stuffed cloth or plastic toys, or toys not designed for "heavy chewers" as these will be shredded in no time and the dog's bowel could be blocked by swallowing the polyester stuffing from the eviscerated prey.

Another good option is cotton rope-toys, often tied to look like a bone but also in other shapes. Can be braided or twisted or a mix. Yes, will eventually be destroyed but it takes quite a bit of time--months or longer--even for my 3 intense chewers. We have several that are years old.

FWIW you can easily teach the dog that you are not a suitable fetch partner, or that for you a ball does not equal fetch. When it brings the toy/ball to you, accept it, then sit on it and ignore the dog completely for that duration. Start at 10 seconds before returning it, increasing to 15, 20, 30 seconds etc; each time you return it, DON'T throw, just put it in the dog's mouth. By the time you get to a minute it will probably be looking elsewhere for a fetchmate. If not, just keep working your way up to 2, 3, 4, hours.