Shelter Dog Toys

For most dogs in shelters their life is boring, frustrating, and/or stressful, and boredom and loneliness are sources of excessive stress for both dogs and cats. Dogs commonly display behaviors out of stress, anxiety, and frustration such as, barking, jumping, spinning, chewing, among others. Long-term stress reduces the immune system's ability to fight disease so it is important that stressors are reduced for shelter animals.

What You Can Do!

Donate! But we need appropriate toys! Shelter dogs need chew toys and treat dispensing toys. Dog toys help to reduce boredom, stress, and frustration for dogs and puppies. A quality chew toy can satisfy a dog's need to chew and provide a constructive and safe way to occupy their time. BUT toys must be nontoxic, large enough that they cannot be swallowed, destroyed or ingested.

Treat dispensing toys are a great way to stimulate and engage all a dog’s senses. There are several types available so we need to choose those that are sturdy, well made, and relatively easy to clean. There are two types; dry kibble treat dispensing, and products that can be used to stuff and/or freeze food and treats inside. The rubber Kong was probably the first popular dog toy people stuffed with differing foods treats to keep dogs entertained. Kong’s are a longtime favorite for many dogs but some dogs’ loose interest quickly because the treats inside can be difficult to get. One of my favorites is the Tux. Although nothing is indestructible with aggressive chewers these toys are among the best, made in the USA and are easy to clean.

To varying degrees many dogs show a desire to compete for resources such as food and toys. So when dogs are kenneled together its important to prevent competition or resource guarding. Many problems can be prevented with the 200-300 rule. The 200-300 rule is simply provide 200-300% more identical toys so resources are not limited. If there are two dogs leave at minimum four identical toys, chews, etc. out. Leaving six out is even better insurance.   

Deliver to:

• Animal Friends of the Valleys https://www.afv.org/

• Attn: Dog Toys

• 33751 Mission Trail
  Wildomar, CA 92595What We Need

What We Need

Frozen Treat Stuffed Toys

PUPPY TOYS

Sadly, its now common to see whole litters of puppies in the shelter. Puppies will do what puppies do, wrestle, bite, jump on others, chase, etc. After 8-weeks of age puppies should be prevented from practicing this behavior! What about bite inhibition? The puppy had the first 8 weeks of life to learn this with their littermates. Now we want to move from bite inhibition (soft bite) to teaching no bite at all.  What your puppy needs to learn now is how to interact with, and around other dogs and people in an appropriate social manner. The goal is for other puppies/dogs to be playmates, not play-things! We don’t want the puppies practicing anything during play that would be inappropriate if they did it to an unfamiliar dog. So how do we minimize this behavior in the shelter? We need to provide young puppies with LOTS of toys to play with! And these will need to be rotated throughout the day so they don’t become bored and start to play rough, bite or bully one another. https://www.homeskooling4dogs.com/socialization