My pup is a monster. He can rip apart anything he thinks is a toy. He has several Nyla-bones and one or two real bones, but he only chews em on occasion. He loves toys with fluff and squeakers but he’s hellbent on eviscerating them in as little time as possible. KONG brand stuff toys last a longer but they’re double or triple the price.
Thanks Ive tried taking em away when he starts ripping em but he doesn’t seem to be taking the lesson.
Any tips for finding dog toys on the cheap?
Frugal dog toy buying tips for chewers
byu/jethropenistei- inFrugal
Posted by jethropenistei-
21 Comments
Marshalls
Ask a local rescue. There is one near me that gets donations from a national pet store that’s just offloading their inventory. They can’t sell it because they are a nonprofit and will just give it away.
Ross/Home Goods are both good for cheap stuffies although not as strong. Sometimes they have a sample of the material on the tag abs that’s usually a good indicator that they’ll be stronger. Costco occasionally has some for cheap too. Go dog! brand toys have held up the longest in my experience, but they’re not on the cheap side.
You can try carrots for treats too. I started my dog on them when he was a puppy, and he still loves them. Not sure how long it’ll keep yours busy, but mine usually stays occupied for about 15 minutes and he gets a little extra nutrients.
My last dog was all about the stuffy massacres. I got smart one day and bought one of those rubber balls with lots of holes in it. Not sure what they are called. Then I stuffed it with strips of fleece material. He loved ripping out those fleece strips and then I would just put them all back in and repeat. lol. Sometimes I would put small treats and maybe a smaller squeaky toy if I could fit it.
I find cheap stuffed toys at the thrift store for the dog to rip up.
Be careful with Nylabones. I’ve had two dogs now crack a tooth (requiring extraction $$$) on them. For stuffies, there are Kevlar lined toys that have held up well, plus I will sometimes buy from the bargain bins at thrift shops.
My Homegoods usually has a lot of Kong brand stuff in stock for much cheaper.
If your dog just likes ripping apart toys, stuffies can be found for dirt cheap at thrift stores. Just obviously supervise as the eyes and nose aren’t dog safe.
I like the suggestion someone above had about cutting strips of fleece and stuffing them into one of the large balls with holes. Still let’s them rip/shred with a much easier to clean up (and reusable) mess.
I started buying plush toys at thrift stores. It’s interesting that sometimes a dog will carry one around for weeks, sometimes months and never rip it up. Then one day, it’s destroyed!
Tube stocks stuffed with rags as diy? Plastic water bottle that is the inside of some toys? The xtralarge red hard rubber kong I have has lasted through two dogs, both large dogs with serious chew and destroy drives, one lab and one rhodie-rhodie was very destructive when it came to toys. Only other toy i had success with was one made out of recycled firehoses. But the recent offering by that company are way down in quality from 10 years ago. I guess check with dog section at tj maxx or something similar. The kong i have wasn’t exactly cheap but it’s 15+ years old, not a crack to be found. Or tractor supply: they have extra large tennis balls that are challenging to my lab though he eventually punctured one. They are cheap.
Take an old t-shirt and tie it in knots. Not quite as messy as a thrift store stuffy
Knotted up rope
I found a human stress ball toy for like a buck at the dollar store. Dog likes it and doesn’t break it.
It’s plush like an angry bird
Tuffy brand isn’t cheap but that’s what lasts the longest for my monster. You could also try the RuffDawg brand toys – not stuffies but they have an indestructibility guarantee and will replace toys that are damaged
I don’t advocate for cheap when it comes to my fluffy littles, but I found Playology’s bones work well for our dog. The one with the channels and little teeth for dental stimulation, however, was chewed apart in a few days (only allowed to start shredding one end before we saw it and took it away. The scented chew stick and the dual layer dog bone (traditionally dog bone shaped) have been two of her faves and have lasted MONTHS!
I braided denim torn in strips from a pair of jeans that didnt fit well. I secured the ends and it makes a good chewy and tug toy.
WestPaw brand has amazingly strong toys. I have a destroyer of a Rottweiler and these hold up for so long.
She also loves elk antlers, but they’re getting pricey for how quickly she can tear through them.
Joyhound flat plush toys, Bullymake nylon and Westpaw toys have been resilient enough to stand up to our intense chewer
TJ Maxx.
And, yard sales. Especially those whole neighbourhood community yard sales. There’s usually a lot for cheap…so it doesn’t seem as wasteful when a dog rips a 50 cent toy a apart.
My aggressive chewer only liked squeaky toys. We tried a variety of stuffed squeaky toys and he killed them all. The sturdiest squeaky toys we found were the Outward Hound Orbee Tuff Squeak. However, about 3 years ago they must have changed something about them because they went from lasting for 3 months to lasting for 1 month. I watched chewy, amazon, petsmart, etc. for sales.
My brothers dogs tear apart any toys that arent just the knotted ropes so thats what they get. As others mentioned i see cheap ones at ross, home goods, marshalls, tj maxx