Fun toys for active dogs; Any suggestions?

My little boxer like squeeky stuffed animals. Her favorite right know is a cat-in-the-hat with a squeeky at each end. As a puppy, though..... hmmm... tennis balls and shoes.

Kittens!

Yeah, or another dog... but I suppose you've already thought about that and rejected it.

My dogs (sisters) are very different in their choice of toys. Poppy likes those Audubon birds that call, especially the giant-sized chickadees.



Penny is totally attached to a large stuffed animals, about the size of a ten or fifteen pound puppy. Whenever she gets excited she has to find one & carry it around. Audubon birds do nothing for her, but she'll watch the squirrels in the trees outside for hours.

Another fun toy (though you have to surreptitiously and actively control it) is a laser pointer.



Again my dogs react differently, Poppy is totally entranced... Penny is mildly interested. Here's an image, btw, of a cat named Poppy who also is interested in laser technology.



Poppy is so nuts about the little red dot that I have to let the light scoot outside the door and escape, otherwise she won't quit watching for it. If I just have the light go under a piece of furniture, she'll stay there and continue to watch for it for hours.

SealPoet, that is too funny! I have an adult cat who hated my puppy. She went into something like a phobia and wouldn't go downstairs even. I got beaten over the head over this one! My cat is strictly indoors. She is declawed. She was terrified, with no reason, of a pup smaller than she was! My son and I held them face to face making sure no one would get hurt in order to calm my cat's fear of this puppy. It worked, no matter how insane people thought I was for doing this.

My kittty is no longer afraid of my dog at all. She even holds her ground, with no claws, over the window seat where I have a bird feeder both are interested in watching. My cat makes the dog take the other side of the window seat or acts awful. My dog does nothing at all to challenge her, even though she knows she is now much larger and this cat has never hurt her, just acted mean and nasty is all.

My pup, of six months old, has been trained to leave the adult cat alone. We don't worry about it anymore since our phobia treatment did work, no matter how insane it sounds. The kitty will only play on her terms, which isn't enough to satisfy the dog!

I'm thrilled that they get along at all. I love my kitty cat too!!

oooh, yeah, a soccor ball works wonders. Your pup shouldn't be able to bite into it because it's too big.

Wildflower -- You should post photos of your pets on that a2k thread of pet photos...here it is!

Great pics Kiffka!! I know cats like laser pointers, but didn't know a dog might! I have two teen kids, so this should be very easy to round up.

Laser pointers must be as much fun for humans as pets! My son and his friends aren't bad guys, just problematic in their forever search for fun. They went around the neighborhood shining a laser light into neighbor's windows. I'm sure the neighbors were less than thrilled, but they sure were!

I need something fun for this dog! While I was using the computer this evening, I got the same objection as always. She hates when I use the computer! I found my brand new leather purse where it shouldn't be. She is getting too tall to keep anything out of reach! I almost had a heart attack. She had a magnetic flap tucked in. With my lousy eyesight, I thought it was missing or chewed off and looked all over the house for it.

Thankfully, my daughter came home and has better eyesight looking at a black purse than I do. The dog did steal it, but didn't tear it up as I thought she did. My house search was useless. This purse was expensive, at least by my standards and brand new with that nice leather smell. She stole it!!

She also steals leather shoes too, but hasn't torn anything up. There has to be something better for her to do! I don't want to put her in the cage because of her curiousity if I want to use the computer.

I don't hit dogs, but she did get chewed out over stealing my brand new leather purse. I put her in her cage until my daughter, with better eyesight, figured out the dog did steal my purse, but didn't ruin it by chewing off that flap I thought she did.

Should I be banned from the computer if no one is around to entertain the dog or should the dog be put in her cage? I'm not too happy at the moment!!

wildflower - this'll pass and you'll love that dog more than almost anything else! Steal stuff indeed! When I'd go out, Bootsie would take my things and lick them. She got my camera case, chewed off the latch, took everything out of it: camera, lens cleaning papers, dust brush, extra lens, lens cleaning juice, user manual, etc. She took them all out and arranged them around the case. I could tell she'd licked the lens because of the streaks. Sigh. I love this dog.

I've heard boxers are cool but I've never had one. I'm still chuckling about Bootsie taking out the user manual!

Wildflower -- I'll bet your dog just thinks she got in trouble for stealing the purse, so maybe things will work out. I also have poor eyesight and in a dark room with a dark purse, I'm sure it was very hard to see. (Yay for your daughter!)

I hope your sons and the dog have fun with the laser pointer.

I recommend the following active dog toys. Some of them are manual, some are automated, but all provide a great way to exercise your dog on a regular basis.

1. Bubble Machines " Evidently dogs love to chase bubbles. There are several products that spew bubbles for your dog to chase and pop. These machines are easy and you can even add flavor to the bubbles. They start around $13 and go up to about $30.

2. Ball Launchers " These come in all types and shapes. Some are hand operated, some look and perform like a tennis practice ball launcher, some look and work like a sling shot, and even tennis racket models. They start at around $10 and go up to $35.

3. Frisbee Type Toys " Frisbees have been around forever and there are lots of new types and special feature models now available. Some make noise, flash lights, have streamers, and some are super soft to make it easy on your dog s mouth. These start at about $10 and go to $20.

4. Squeaky toys- Most dogs like squeaky toys because the high pitched squeaks remind them of prey (ie rodents) dying. These start at about $0.69 and go to $7.69. I get squeaky toy for Lisa from this site: http://www.uxsight.com/category/20753/dog-toys.html