what toys to get

[jp11us]

hello, im getting a german shepherd in about a week and am trying to get toys and the such. I'm not sure on the size to get but she'll be 9 weeks old. should I just get the ones that will be good for life like a kong XL? or what should I get her?

[Virginia]

I like the kong, it's the only toy that has survived more than a month around my boy. Tennis balls and tugs are good too, but I have to put those up when we're done playing or else they get destroyed.

[DSudd]

When Rocky was a pup we got him a rope tug toy, chew toys, gave him one of DH's socks (big mistake he didnt know the difference between that one and the ones DH still wore LOL) and some stuffed animals. Then we bought him a bag of tennis balls and it was all over.

Most of his toys I bought for a big dog. I didnt want to worry about him choking on anything.

[Tbarrios333]

I got Denali at 9 weeks.
We bought her -
Petsmart tennis balls (they seem to have less fluff than others, my pup likes to rip the fluff off and eat it). They have a 6 pack for 5 bucks or so.
I also got her Kong rubber toys for large dogs(none of my dogs have ever gone crazy for Kongs though sadly), XL is too big for me.
I got her a cuz toy, Nylabones (she loooves Nylabones), soft plush toys (those were gone in a week or so), rope tugs, Frisbees.
I pretty much just got her a random assortment of toys to see what she liked. Didn't help though, she likes them all LOL.
Now, when I take her to Petco, I buy her whatever holds her attention the longest while at the store (It's gotta be a good sign if she plays with it through distractions lol)

[aubie]

Buy some size appropriate stuffed animals with squeakers, so when she gets bigger, you can buy MORE toys!!

Of course Anna chose a giant reindeer that was bigger than her, but now she's bigger than it is and he's still all together.

Basically, I vote for anything with squeakers, since mine love squeakers!

[Tbarrios333]

Oh yea aubie!
I forgot, lol. Denali also has a giant rhino toy. It's a huge plushy that I gave her so she could feel like she had company in the crate. It's bigger than her, but she likes cuddling/chewing/using it as a pillow

[doggiedad]

i got my boy at 9 weeks old. we bought Kong products. i bought medium size toys. i didn't want his toys to small because i was worried about him swallowing them or having them get stuck in his
mouth or throat. i also bought tube shape Kongs. ropes and pull toys by other companies also. we don't give our dog anything that's made in China, to many recalls. as my dog got older his toys got larger. i believe the black Kongs are the strongest.

[PipiK]

I'd love to do the plush squeaker toys, but even the tough ones get destroyed in less than a week.

We do have a gigantic rawhide chew bone that they chew on sporadically, but the fun comes from when Mom or Dad squirts a bit of Kong paste or canned cheese into the knots on the ends.

We have Kongs but they're not fond of them unless, again, the Kong paste is used. Chewy rope toys...yes, but I have to trim the stringy ends a bit or else they'll swallow them. We have a "Tug-a-jug" that they didn't really like until I placed one of those talking Babble balls inside with the treats.

One virtually indestructible "plush" squeaker toy (so far) is a Mega Ring. Then there are the usual tennis balls, heavy vinyl squeaker toys, etc. and Lucy enjoys the laser light. She will literally chase it till she's exhausted.

Their very favorite toy of all, though, is the bubble wand.

They absolutely LOVE chasing bubbles out in the yard, and that's Nikki's very favorite toy/activity.

Like the others, I recommend getting the largest size you can since they grow fast and you don't want them choking on tiny toys.

[jp11us]

ok another question...what kind of treats do I get her...I need some that I can use and break up to train her with and then some harder ones but what kind?

Thanks for the other answers, I think I can go with the largest I can find and get a kong and some peanut butter from walmart?

[PipiK]

Mine love those little oyster crackers that go in soup, but that might not be appropriate for other dogs.

Treats I use...

Pounce (yep, they're for cats but my dogs love them)
Cooked hotdogs, small slices
String cheese, small slices
Mini marshmallows (not very often)
Regular dog biscuits broken into little pieces

Their very favorite treats of all, though...

Pet Botanics Omega treats for dogs...tuna, cod, and sweet potato

they stink to high heaven, but my dogs go crazy for them. In fact, it's how they got crate trained so quickly...in addition to giving them a treat only when they were to go into their crates, I also let them see the bag. Now all I have to do is take the bag out of the cupboard and they're heading off to their crates.

Someone who did a review of them on Amazon.com said they found a fishbone in one of them and thought they were dangerous. I still feed them to my dogs, but what I do is to bend/break them in half just to make sure there are no bones inside to hurt them. They're pretty small anyway...maybe the size of a kidney bean.