Your dog's toys are essential to keeping him entertained and happy. Certain toys are also helpful for the health of the dog's gums. When choosing the toys, you need to make sure they are safe and durable. Toys with stuffing are not considered safe and you should avoid buying these.
Danger of Choking
Dogs tend to chew on their toys and this will often result in the damaging of the toy. If the toy has stuffing, this can be accidentally swallowed by the dog, which can be potentially harmful. The stuffing may choke the dog, if it gets stuck in the respiratory tract. This is due to the fact that the stuffing may be small enough for the dog to swallow. If you don't supervise your dog while he is playing, chances are that you may not notice he's choking until it is too late for him.
Not Safe Materials
The materials used for pet toy stuffing may not be safe. The stuffing may be made of old materials or other toxic materials that pose a danger to the dog's health, even if they are not swallowed. Some stuffing materials that are used for dogs' toys may be irritants and cause allergic reactions on the skin of your pet.
What Types of Toys to Buy
When buying toys for the dog, it is important to consider various factors to make sure the toys are safe. Toys with stuffing are not safe and are not durable.
You need to consider the size of the toy. The toy should be bigger than your dog can swallow, so he won't be able to choke while playing with it. Test a few sizes of toys, but make sure you supervise your dog while you are testing them. Typically, you can go with toys that are larger than a tennis ball, because the dog cannot swallow these, even if he is a larger animal. However, the size you choose will depend on the size of your pet.
You will also need to make sure that your dog's toys don't have a texture that is too rough for his jaws. A rough toy may cause fractures and this is a complication you want to avoid. Rubber toys are excellent, but there are rubber toys with various textures, so make sure you ask your vet what the right roughness is.
Get toys that cannot be broken into pieces, because the pieces can be swallowed and possibly lead to choking.
You should also consider the health of the teeth and the gums of your pet when buying a toy. There are several chew toys that will help eliminate plaque, by scraping it off the pet's teeth. This will prevent the occurrence of calculus and other possible tooth and gum problems.
You will also have to consider your pet's preferences. Get toys that have various sizes that will be appealing for the dog, so he won't get bored with the toy too easily.