In 2007, Oprah Winfrey received much sympathy from pet owners across the United States when her Golden Retriever choked to death on a common “toy” – a ball. If you’re anything like me, your dog’s toy box is filled with cute squeaker and non-squeaker stuffed toys, a variety of balls, pull strings, and many, many, many other types of toys too. Most pet owners are not aware of the potential dangers we are subjecting our pets to by selecting some of these toys and there is no help for us either. Like me, most pet owners I know regard their pets as their children. There are many regulatory agencies that assess and monitor the safety of toys sold for children, such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, WATCH, and the Toy Association, etc. These agencies also alert us to the dangers so that these toys are not sold to our children. The last one is the lead content of toys made in China. Surprisingly, there are no such regulatory agencies that control the quality and content of pet toys. Therefore, it is up to us to educate ourselves on the best toy options for our pets.

The following are some general guidelines I use to select toys for my precious Lab, Rhoda.

or Size. This is complicated. Last year Veterinary Practice News ran an article titled “What Did They Eat?” In that article they told the story of a 1 year old boxer who ate 208 1-3″ stones. Don’t worry, after vomiting a few, his owners took him to the vet who removed the stones and the boxer is fine today . One to three inches in diameter! A tennis ball is 2 ½ inches in diameter. And like Oprah’s Golden, the dog loved to play catch. Tennis balls get very wet and sticky. they become slimy after a good game of catch. A slimy tennis ball can slide down a large dog’s throat in no time. So now we can clearly see the problems with tennis balls. Tennis balls are certainly small enough to be swallowed on purpose or by accident. I have removed the tennis balls from Rhoda’s toy box. Instead, I have replaced them with other soft rubber balls such as Hol-ee Roller(TM), Clutch and Frisb eh. I have never read a case where a dog has swallowed a Frisbee.

or material. I have discovered that the material I select has a lot to do with the breed of the dog. For example, Rhoda does better with canvas material. Canvas is stronger than other soft and comfortable materials. You can safely chew on the canvas without destroying the toy or ingesting the material. On the other hand, my girlfriend weighs 15 pounds. The Havanese loves large soft toys and gets along with them as long as they don’t have a squeaker. Soft and hard rubber toys are usually the best choice overall. They come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. Some can be filled with peanut butter or treats for those times when you want your pet to be safely distracted for a good amount of time. The best case is to see how your dog does with different materials and determine the safety of each type of toy for yourself.

o Squeakers and rattles. Some dogs chew on a toy relentlessly in an effort to get to the squeaker or rattle. While dogs playing with noise-making toys are fun to watch (also fun to listen to), dogs can easily choke on a squeaker or rattle. Watch your dog closely to determine what he will do with a released squeaker or rattle.

or chew. In the same article, “What did they eat?” is a story about a pit bull mix that swallowed an 11″ carving knife. Just like the boxer, the owners acted fast, a vet pulled the knife and the dog is fine today. Before I read this story I used to give him nylon bones to Rhoda. of various sizes and shapes. Nylon bones, much like tennis balls, become slippery. Once the ends are bitten, these bones can easily slip down the throat of a dog like that carving knife. Consequently I do not buy or make them. I recommend them. So I decided to try raw hides. No luck with these either. The first danger with raw hide comes when dogs swallow large chunks. These large chunks they can cause blockages and unpleasant and expensive trips to the vet The second danger comes from curing the rawhide itself If your pet does well on rawhides, be sure to buy only rawhide products. cured ericanos that do not contain formaldehyde.

If you are like me, you will still buy toys for your dear friend. My final suggestion is to select the type of toy you want to provide your dog and then purchase the next size up. Then watch your pet’s reaction to the toys and watch for any activities that could be a potential hazard. These suggestions have helped me select the best toys and I hope they will be useful to you as well.