True or False about stuffed animal toys

[doggiedad]

a stuffie for a German Shepherd.

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by CarrieJ

I lean toward (with small puppies) to avoid squeaky toys. I believe it does reward prey drive. But, then again; I work in loose pack environments so I see what happens when a dog for whatever reason squeals.

That's a good point, and I've heard Terrier people say that they do not give their dogs squeaky toys for that very reason: they learn to attack anything that squeals. I might argue that the Terrier would do that whether it had a squeaky toy or not, though!

I can see how it could be a bad idea for some breeds, but the GSD is a different type of dog, and I think they will know the difference between a squeaky toy and a small animal.

And dogs will pack up on another dog if it's squealing. But I don't know if it has anything to do with whether the dogs had squeaky toys or not.

[Jag]

I also think it's false. My previous male GSD had a stuffed 'person' from 8 weeks old that he'd sleep with and literally suck on the thing's head when he was tired. Any other stuffie he'd tear up, but not this toy. I bought them in batches, afraid they'd stop making them (which they did). When my kid's hamster would get out, that same dog would find it, but never touch it. He didn't get into other stuffed things, either. When I got the parrots, my 'worst nightmare' came true and one got on the floor by accident when the shepherds were out. They circled him the second he touched down, but neither shepherd dared lay a paw on him. It was "mine" and they had a firm grasp on "leave it".

[CarrieJ]

Originally Posted by SewSleepy

Everyone has some really good points but I really like this-it makes alot of sense.

Seven is 6 mos and has been with us for 4. I was already thinking that the chance of her confusing a cat (we have 2) and a toy was probably diminished since she's already had the exposure to ours. Since she's been snagging my daughter's stuffed animals despite not ever having stuffies of her own I was also thinking that the connection I thought was there may not be.

Looks like we may be having a field trip to the pet store later this week. Thanks everyone!





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Oooh! Have fun, and never fret about your dog mistaking one of your cats as a squeaky stuffed animal....
Young dogs learn pretty quick that cats have five sets of teeth....


And a "knock it off" coming from a cat usually is a lasting impression.

[CarrieJ]

[QUOTE=Freestep;2607036]That's a good point, and I've heard Terrier people say that they do not give their dogs squeaky toys for that very reason: they learn to attack anything that squeals. I might argue that the Terrier would do that whether it had a squeaky toy or not, though!

I can see how it could be a bad idea for some breeds, but the GSD is a different type of dog, and I think they will know the difference between a squeaky toy and a small animal.

And dogs will pack up on another dog if it's squealing. But I don't know if it has anything to do with whether the dogs had squeaky toys or not.[/QUOTE]

Interesting statement. A squealing dog in that situation brings out really primal behavior in dogs; some dogs will fall into "predatory drift" which is scary to watch. (I believe IMHO that the squealing dog sounds like wounded prey I could be wrong though)
Some dogs just run in and do little nips/bites and run out, other dogs will come in and grab the squealing dog and pick it up and shake it trying to kill it. Doesn't matter what size, they can all be the same size. It's just all happening all at one time so you just have to learn which dogs to watch.
Terriers are the ones to watch in this scenario, but I've seen and dealt with a few Labs that were scary incredibly strong in their desire to cause harm to the squealing one.
Zoey my terrier mix her prey drive is insane....she will stalk, wait and kill any living rodent that is stupid enough to come into our yard, while Alice will only engage unless something runs.

[Jenna&Me]

All my girls have love stuffed toys. The first knew that if they were on our bed she wasn't to touch. The second snaffled any stuffed toy she could get.

The third is still to short to get onto the bed lol.

The breeder she came from has a basket of stuffed toys for the puppies to play with during their outside time. She even gave Jenna a brand new one as a going away present.

[SewSleepy]

I thought I'd update since I'm awake and it's been a while. Seven got a stuffed animal with a squeeker. It's a porcupine. It spent the first few days under our bed with her other "treasures" that se hides from us, but has been making its way into the rest of the house more. She's not overly obsessed with it, but will walk around with it in her mouth just squeezing it.

She does seem to be leaving my daughter's stuffed animals alone more which is nice and the behavior with the cats is about the same. So far so good.


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