My Dog Doesn’t Like Toys

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My Dog Won’t Play With Toys

(Updated 2020)

Why isn’t my dog interested in her toys?  Why doesn’t my dog play with his toys?  My dog doesn’t like toys. My dog has 100 toys but doesn’t play with any of them!  Sound familiar?

Here are all of the dog toys we use and recommend for dogs that don’t like toys

Reasons A Dog Is Disinterested In Toys

Here are just a few of the many factors why your dog doesn’t like toys.

• He’s bored, depressed, or has no one to play with (human or non-human animal)
• He hasn’t been taught and/or motivated
• He’s unemployed
• He’s under/overstimulated
• Negative association
• He’s been punished (shock collar, choke chain or pronged collars)
• He’s stressed and/or afraid
• Medical issue (old age, canine cognitive dysfunction {CCD,} general pain or discomfort, arthritis, tooth cavity, gum disease, hip dysplasia, luxating patella, etc.)
• You don’t swap out your dog’s toys daily and instead leave all toys accessible at all times

I’m often called to a behavior consultation and dog training Los Angeles session and asked why a dog won’t play with his toys. Here are the typical scenarios.

1. A dog has many toys (40+) and is completely disinterested in all of them.

Or

2. The dog has very few toys <5 (or none) and is not interested in playing with toys.

To understand why a dog doesn’t like dog toys it helps to know more details about our beloved pets.

Dogs are neophiles; they love new things and experiences. Novelty is stimulating and dogs often get bored with the same familiar 5 block walk, backyard jaunt, same dog friends, people/family, and same dog toys on a daily basis. Because dogs become bored quickly with old familiar things, people, toys, and experiences, it behooves pet parents to take advantage of a dog’s neophile qualities and expose a well-rounded, healthy dog to many new experiences on a daily basis. Dog toys are a simple way to ease boredom and stimulate, enhance, and enrich a dog’s life experiences.

In a study by researchers at the University of Bristol Anthrozoology Institute and the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition published their study on dogs and their interest in dog toys, in Animal Cognition. They researched 16 adult Labrador Retrievers and presented each one with a toy for 30 seconds. The toy was taken away and then returned to the dog after a short time. They repeated this exercise until the dog became bored and no longer showed any interest in the toy. The dog was then given a new toy that either had varying odors or colors and the exercise was repeated.

A variety of toys were used but it didn’t seem to matter. On average, the dogs lost interest in the toys after five 30-second intervals of exposure. If we synthesize it, that’s just 2 1/2 minutes of playing with a toy!

I am not suggesting you change dog toys every 2 1/2 minutes but this study gives you an understanding of a dog’s toy preferences and time frames of a canine’s interest and the need to switch up your dog’s toys daily.

Though there are many behavior problems and health manifestations that result from being under-stimulated, under-enriched, and/or bored, the solutions are often similar. Enrichment.

Pro Tip: A dog should have enough enrichment opportunities to keep them fulfilled on a daily basis. I like to provide about a dozen different toys for my dog per day. But here’s the catch. I don’t give my dog all of the 100 toys I have for him at once. He gets about 10+ toys per day, every morning, and then I pull up the ones I gave him the previous morning, put them away (out of sight and inaccessible to my dog), and swap them out with 10+ “new” toys. Imagine a pillbox for each day of the week, but for dog toys, not medicine, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. I typically do this in the morning with my morning routine of training, walking, feeding, playing, etc. It doesn’t have to be a “new” toy, just not a dog toy he was playing with the previous day. And make sure you are providing a variety of toys at a time, not 10 tennis balls.

What Type Of Dog Enrichment Toys Should I Give A Dog?

Even the best dog toys don’t trump social interactions. If you don’t interact with your dog and their toys, chances are your dog will start enriching and entertaining themselves, and you won’t like what your dog finds interesting, like eating poop!

When a dog stays with me for my boot camp, in Los Angeles parents sometimes mention their dog doesn’t like toys or have any.  One of the most fun parts of dog training is exploring a wide variety of dog toys and learning about each unique dog.

The best dog enrichment toys are the toys that your dog loves! There are as many dog toys as you can dream up. Toy companies pop up daily and change the design, composition, manufacturing, and what the dog toys are made out of just as often. Most of the dog toys that I personally use and recommend to clients I have listed throughout this post or for a more comprehensive toy list, on Fun Paw Care’s Amazon page.  For a list of all of the things to do and what to buy before you get a puppy or dog refer to this post.

How to buy a toy that your dog will love is a tough question because you know your dog best. The questions of, what toys should I buy for my dog are best answered by analyzing the following factors. I want to cover all of my dog’s somatosensory senses which may be remembered by the silly acronym (GOATV) Gustatory, Olfactory, Auditory, Tactilely, and Visually. When I brainstorm about what dog toy to make or buy I try to stimulate all of my dog’s senses and wholeness, to fulfill, challenge, and teach my dog but most importantly to maximize his fun.

How to buy a toy that your dog will love is a fun question to chew on (see what I did there!)

Factors to help you decide what toys to buy for your dog.

Dog factors:

• Dog’s personality
• Dog’s temperament
• Dog’s breed
• Dog’s preferences
• Dog’s play style and energy level
• Environment the dog toy will be used in (pool, park, home, apartment, on walks, beach, while training, etc.) And what the weather is like where the dog will be playing with the toy (cold, warm, hot, sunny, cloudy, rain, water, mud, or dry, etc.)
• Dog’s age
• Dog’s health

Dog toy factors:

• Dog toy materials
• Dog toy scent
• Dog toy color
• Dog toy taste
• Dog toy texture
• Dog toy composition
• Dog toy size
• Dog toy longevity/durability
• Dog cruelty-free certification. No testing on animals, harming animals or the environment
• Dog toy cost. Dog toys can be expensive, especially if your dog is a destroyer of dog toys and a strong chewer. If that’s the case, consider making your own! (DIY dog toy ideas are below)

All of the above factors will help you determine what toy/s your dog plays with. Toys and play go hand-in-hand and are vital for play and enrichment. Having just 10 toys or tennis balls is not enough to enrich your dog and make them happy and fulfilled. You must interact with and play with your dog and make the dog toy interesting and attractive to all of your dog’s senses.

What Are The Best Dog Enrichment Toys For Different Age Dogs

The best dog toy depends on your unique individual dog and the many factors listed above. Dog toy selection not only depends on who your dog is but what life stage they are in. We can further narrow down a dog’s toy selection and troubleshoot why a dog doesn’t like a toy by taking into consideration the dog’s age. Consider the following age criteria before buying a toy for your puppy or older dog.

Here are all of the dog toys we use and recommend for dogs that don’t like toys

Puppy Toys

Puppy biting hurts! Puppies have razor-sharp teeth and they are not being aggressive when they bite you. They are looking to relieve the pain they are experiencing from puppy teething. Just like with puppy potty training, puppies need to be taught what is appropriate to chew on and what is off-limits. To prevent your hands, feet, hair, and clothing from being chewed on, focus on many different types of puppy dog toys.

Remember to take into consideration the factors above regarding different shapes, sizes, colors, textures, and sounds to positively expose and get a feel for your dog’s preferences.

Additionally, make sure to substitute appropriate chew toys for your puppy to chew on any time your puppy makes a mistake and bites your hand, foot, or anything you don’t want your puppy destroying. No need to yell, scold, or even say the all too loved “No” or “bad dog!” Ignore punishing your dog and instead happily and calmly guide your puppy to the correct behavior you prefer. Simply placing a properly sized chew toy in a puppy’s mouth and gently pulling it side to side, tugging it, and interacting with your puppy, and making the toy “come to life” will entice any puppy to play with you.

Pro tip: Most puppies (and all dogs) don’t want to chew on “dead” lifeless toys, they want to interact with YOU. So if YOU make the toy fun and interesting your puppy will become more interested in the toy. Rather than giving your puppy a toy and going back to your emails, play with your dog. Don’t ignore your puppy, they LOVE you and need you to teach them what is appropriate and inappropriate to chew on by being gentle, patient, kind, and compassionate. Just as you would love and teach a beautiful and innocent 2-year-old child.

Puppy toys for puppies that won’t play with their toys

• Food extracting toys – Puppy teething Kong toys and other toys should be used when you are not dog training.  Food-extracting toys help a dog digest their food slower, promote good digestion, cognitive enrichment, and fulfillment
• Flavored dog bones
• Ropes feel great to a teething puppy
• Soft plush toys are wonderful to investigate and chew
• Puppy Nylabone
• Puppy ChuckIt balls
• Slow-feeder dog bowls
• Snuffle Mats for puppies to scavenge and forage for treats and kibble
• Treat dispensing puppy puzzle toys offers cognitive enrichment, promotes thinking and figuring out problems independently

Dogs prefer to work for their food and treats (contrafreeloading.) If you don’t have time to train with your dog and still want the added benefit of providing mental enrichment for your dog while you are busy, make sure to use food dispensing and interactive dog toys and not your dog’s food bowl.

Adolescent Dog Toys

Rather than list individual links for dog toys that will change often, here are all of the dog products and toys we use and recommend for dogs that don’t like toys

At this point in your dog’s life, your adolescent dog’s behavior has likely become erratic and more unpredictable. That is the nature of a growing developing dog. Many adolescent dogs (think teenagers) rebel at this age and look to push the boundaries of what is allowed and not allowed. Your dog may or may not be as interested in dog toys at this age or become even more interested in their toys. It may be much easier or more difficult to get your adolescent dog to play with a dog toy that they used to love and now thumb their nose at. Try a variety of dog toys. Switch them up often and bring toys with you on dog walks and incorporate dog toys into dog training.

If your adolescent dog doesn’t like toys, try out some of these combinations. A dog might be bored with the old toys that he used to play with when he was a puppy. Or conversely might be addicted to that one toy or comfort item (teddy bear, blanket, sock, etc.) Dogs get habitual and nostalgic just like we do.

In either case, it can’t hurt to try out some new toys that your dog previously didn’t like or brand-new ones altogether.

As always focus on buying a varying amount of dog toy shapes, sizes, textures, sounds, and smells, and tastes. Dog toys that smell and taste like something other than plastic or rubber are oftentimes irresistible. Such as elk antlers and some toys are artificially infused with food scents and flavored dog toys to help spark a dog’s interest in the toy.

Adolescent dog toys for dogs that don’t like toys

• Elk Antlers – But if my dogs start to chew it too hard or intensely I will not give them this toy as it may cause a broken tooth or cause a dog’s gums to bleed
• Dog Snuffle Mats
• Kong on a rope
• Jolly Ball – A medium-sized ball on a rope (my dog’s favorite toy). Medium to larger dogs like my German Shepherd love this toy.
• Adult ChuckIt balls

Adult Dog Toys

Adult dog toys are very similar to adolescent dog toys. If your dog doesn’t like toys it’s best to use primary reinforcers like food to peak a dog’s interest. However, when your dog is an adult dog, they will most likely have established preferences. If your dog doesn’t have dog toy preferences as an adult and still doesn’t like toys, try all of the life stage categories of dog toys and also make sure to read the ‘professional tips for dogs that don’t like dog toys’ section below.

Adult dog toys for dogs that hate toys

• Elk Antlers – But if my dogs start to chew it too hard or intensely I will not give them this toy as it may cause a broken tooth or gums to bleed
• Dog Snuffle Mats
• Kong on a rope
• Jolly Ball – A medium-sized ball on a rope (my dog’s favorite toy). Medium to larger dog breeds love this toy.
• Adult ChuckIt balls

Senior and Old Age Dog Toys

Your older dog might be experiencing, canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD), tooth and gum disease, and weaker jaw muscles that all might contribute to what toys they can or can’t play with. A senior dog’s health is likely the guiding concern regarding toy choice.

Your aging dog likely has dog toy preferences at this time of their life however your dog might not be able to play with the same toys that they used to. If your aging dog’s choices suddenly change or your old dog loses interest in dog toys altogether, make sure they are healthy and not medically ill or depressed and that you are meeting all of your dog’s needs.

Senior dog toys for when your dog loses interest in toys

• Make your own dog toys – Focus on soft organic materials that are easy to chew and gnaw on. See below for ideas on what to use when making dog toys.
• Old (or new) ropes – make knots in the rope and make the rope come to life by interacting with the rope and your dog
• Fabric frisbees – Many senior dogs love frisbees. I would focus on soft, fabric, malleable material, and not hard rubber or plastic frisbees for older dogs.
• Senior Kong toys – All dogs love delicious food and treats. Stuff some of your senior dog’s favorite treats in a Kong toy and watch how happy he gets.
• LickiMats – Great for dogs with teeth issues but still love to lick! Smear some organic peanut butter, nut butter, cream cheese, or your dog’s wet food on a LickiMat and your dog will be in heaven. This will also help curb dogs licking you so much.
• Dog Snuffle Mats – If your senior dog can stand up, they will love foraging and scavenging for food. Snuffle Mats keep dogs busy for a while and offer them lots of enrichment.

Dog toys should be different, shapes, textures, smells, sizes, softness/hardness, and should cater to your individual dog’s unique preferences. If my dog loves soft, gushy, cuddly toys I am not going to get him hard elk antlers. I’ll buy or make many toys, and experiment with him to see what motivates my dog the most and what he prefers and doesn’t. In this fun exploration, I’ll donate the toys my dog doesn’t like or is least interested in, to a responsible animal shelter, and then as he gets older I’ll focus more on making or buying what he likes best.

How To Make Your Own Dog Toys

Making toys is a fun and stimulating hobby. It doesn’t matter if your dog loves recycled plastic water bottles, a tennis ball stuffed in a sock, or a flirt pole you make yourself.  The key is when buying or making toys please keep the earth and your dog’s health in mind which means, staying away from bad plastics and leaching toys, PVC pipe, non-sustainable materials, and using upcycled and recycled eco-friendly materials like environmentally sound stuffing (which dogs sometimes ingest by ripping open a dog toy and eating the insides.) After all, what dog doesn’t like to decapitate their favorite stuffed animal at the earliest convenience (the day after you buy it!)

The following household materials can make great and cheap dog toys!

• Discarded rock climbing rope and/or other types of rope (or old fabric dog leashes) to make rope toys
• Old clothes make great toys. You can use old T-shirts, socks, pants, etc. that you can make into tug toys or stuff balls or plastic jugs inside a hole to make a crunchy fun dog toy
• Tennis balls, lacrosse balls, and soccer balls – You can cut holes in a tennis or soccer ball to dispense treats
• Cardboard boxes – make wonderful toys a dog can tear apart or find their treats in. Dog boxes make great dog training fun with search and rescue and hide-and-seek games. On a side note, cats go bonkers for boxes!
• Old towels and rags can be made into large knots or braided tug toys
• Old socks as holders for tennis balls, lacrosse balls, or plastic bottles stuffed inside
• Old plastic water jugs filled with water or ice in the summer or just by themselves make wonderful crunchy toys.  
• Frozen dog toys (wet t-shirts, towels or toys can all be frozen) for summertime fun and cooling off
• Thick cardboard tube linings – For gentle chewers even toilet paper cardboard tubes. Close off the ends and throw a few treats in it for smaller dog toys and watch your dog become interested in finding a way to get at the treats.
• Old gloves, sneakers, or shoes – What dog doesn’t love their parent’s shoes!

The caveat is to use common sense. Although it is easy to train a dog what to chew and what not to chew, if your dog is confused between his dog towel and your good bath towel don’t use a towel for a toy. The same goes for shoes, socks, clothing, etc.

Lastly, you must monitor your dog with active supervision. You don’t want your dog ingesting or getting injured on any dog toy. So enjoy watching them play with their new dog toy or better yet, intersperse playing with them. Give them some alone time and then activate and bring the toy to life every so often. Every dog is different regarding how much time they want alone to explore and play with their newfound treasure, so let your dog dictate how much interaction or independence they want with their new toy.

How Do I Teach My Dog To Like His/Her Dog Toys?

I Want A Dog To Be Addicted To Their Toys. Time is finite. If your dog is performing a “good” desirable behavior, it’s less time that your dog will be practicing something “bad” or undesirable. When you create great chew toy habits with food-interacting dog toys such as a stuffed Kong chew toy, you don’t have to worry about “bad” undesirable habits developing such as chewing on your bed, coffee table, new rug, clothes, shoes, linens, or anything your dog is not supposed to chew on.

It is your responsibility as a pet parent to teach them what is appropriate to chew and what is not. Good dog trainers focus on teaching dogs new, appropriate behaviors, not by punishing (euphemistically referred to as “corrections” by ignorant and confused animal “trainers”) inappropriate ones. If your dog is performing behaviors that please you, there is little reason to get frustrated or to punish a dog, right?

Remember, dogs do not come into this world speaking French, Spanish English, or Chinese, and they also don’t know what is acceptable to chew. Unless your pup was taught otherwise, it’s not his fault he chewed your new Jimmy Choos, which looks like just another (expensive) dog toy! One of the most effective and efficient ways we teach dogs is through motivation and primary reinforcers – food! Nom, Nom, Nom, which is scientific jargon for delicious food!

It is important to note that positive reinforcement dog training is not about bribing your dog. It is about rewarding your dog for appropriate behaviors and making positive associations between things, others, and life experiences with wonderful treats! Of course, there are other ways to reinforce dogs (dog toys and environmental rewards) but primary reinforcers motivate dogs. This is why we use food in conjunction with so many of our dog toy suggestions! As carrion animals, dogs love smelly, sticky, and pungent food, the gastronomic cuisine of choice.

There are many ways to teach your dog to love their toys and these methods are similar to the ways in which we teach dogs to love learning, interacting with, and bonding with us. I don’t buy a dog toy, take it out of the bag and carelessly toss it on the floor, and hope my dog will like their toy!

Instead, I engage the dog, act silly with the dog toy, toss the toy in the air, run after it, and energetically play with the toy and the dog. Raise the tone of my voice a few octaves (especially men who sound like Barry White), think soprano (Julia Child), not base. If you are thoroughly embarrassed if someone saw you behaving in this manner you are doing it right!

Don’t be afraid to rub food scent, grass, or your own body odor on a toy to engage the dog and entice him towards the toy. Playing with your dog is about bonding, interacting, engaging, and teaching. Not disassociating, ignoring, and isolating a dog.

Yes, your dog may eventually love playing independently while chewing their new prized possession in the comfort of their doggy den (dog crate) or under the bed, however, they will also love playing with you.

Your responsibility is to teach them as you would any member of your family, how a mom and dad want their family to behave and equally important, to teach a dog that it is OK and encouraged to be independent and able to be left alone with their dog toys in happiness while being fulfilled, enriched and stimulated. Ancillary, teaching independence will also help a lot with separation anxiety in dogs and other behavior issues down the road.

Professional Tips For Dogs That Hate Dog Toys

How to make a dog that hates dog toys love them again? First, we need to explore the history of dogs, their anatomy, biology, and atavistic qualities to discover why your dog doesn’t like toys and to figure out which toys your dog will like.  Get ready to geek out my fellow canophile!

Pro Tip 1: Dog’s sense of smell – What’s a dog toy made out of? It’s important to remember that toys are typically made from human-made chemicals that are toxic and highly offensive to a dog’s very sensitive olfactory glands. Hence, what is out of our field of senses, is often offending your dog or doesn’t resemble anything your dog would find in nature that a dog would normally be interested in.

Dogs are carrion animals, which means they love vile, pungent, rotting, and decaying-smelling things. Cater to your dog’s atavistic and innate qualities as much as possible to find a toy your dog loves. We can influence but not control what a dog likes to play with, paw at, run with, tug, squeak, and chew.

Also, dogs can smell in three dimensions. They can smell another dog or smell an odor that was left weeks ago. Including the sex, age, health and breeding status, and friendliness of another dog. If you are sharing your dog’s toys with another pet or if you are buying your dog toys second-hand, this might influence your dog’s desire to play with the dog toy. A typical example of this would be a community tennis ball or some other toy in a dog park.

A dog’s olfactory glands are also far more powerful than ours. A dog’s senses, in particular, their olfactory glands are the main reason they can predict storms, cancer, low insulin levels, bombs, drugs, truffles, etc.

Toys, chemicals, stress, barometric pressure and all-natural phenomena have odors associated with them. Most of the time beyond the capacity of our noses to detect. Dog’s noses are so sensitive that when moisture and nanoparticles enter the air accompanied by low or high-pressure systems a dog can sense these changes immediately.

Pro Tip 2: Dog’s vision – How a dog sees plays a large part in what toys they like to play with. Not only with regard to colors but how a dog sees degrees of light and movement.

Dogs see movement better than us and also at much greater distances than we do but they don’t see stillness as well as us. Hence when we toss a ball or provide movement to any dog toy or object your dog will hone in on it much quicker. However, when the ball stops rolling they are much worse at visually finding the toy and their noses kick in.

Dogs also see a wider field of vision than we do and see in twilight, dusk, and dawn far superior to us. Our domesticated dogs evolved from wild canines. Our pet dogs inherited a crepuscular (twilight) activity level. Dogs thrive during these low light levels and are most active during these twilight hours and are ready and wanting to play, and eat! Take advantage of the time of day to entice your dog to play with his toys.

Pro Tip 3: Color spectrum – Dog’s see vastly different than us. I find it silly and careless when manufacturers make red and green colored dog toys since dogs do not differentiate between these colors. In fact, red and green don’t look like that at all to dogs as they both look like brown hues.  Dogs would make horrible car drivers!

How does a green ball look in a dog park against green grass? Or a tennis ball on your brown wooden floors? Pretty much everything is brown. So the colors of a toy and the environment of the intended use are both important to think about. Instead, I would get a blue, orange, or purple-colored ball that doesn’t blend into the grass and that the dog can differentiate and see more clearly from other objects.

Balls made with orange and blue are a much better color combination than using red and green.

Pro Tip 4: Dog’s Hearing – Last but not least is a dog’s hearing. Many dog toys make noises of some kind to entice a dog to play or retrieve.  A dog hears in a greater variation than we do.

The layer of a dog’s auditory perception is another area where dogs perceive the world around them vastly differently than human beings. These differences may be connected to a dog’s ability to pick up on different and undetectable phenomena that we do not. There are many differences between the form and function of a dog’s ear vs. a human ear and how and what we hear.

Most humans hear in ranges from 20 to 20,000 Hz, with considerable variation between individuals

Most dogs hear in ranges from 67 Hz to 60,000 Hz with considerable variation between individuals

Many dog trainers incorporate dog training whistles or high-pitched squeaky toys for this very reason. Whistles are designed to emit an ultrasonic sound that’s detectable to a canine but not to a human. These are great to use in an environment where you don’t want to disturb other people but still want to communicate with your dog. These distinct sounds are unmistakable and travel greater distances than other lower-frequency sounds. Just don’t get fooled by the sales pitch that a dog whistle stops dog barking. They don’t.

Hence a dog’s ability to hear sounds at greater distances. Dogs hear at greater distances than us because of the correlation of Hz to the distance that sound travels. The greater hearing abilities of a dog allow them to hear higher-pitched noises and at further distances than we do.

A dog has a number of unique anatomical and auditory qualities that affect their abilities to hear dog toys such as:

• Placement of ears
• Movement of ears
• Frequency of hearing
• Muscles of the ears
• Pliability of ears
• Ability to rotate, tilt, raise or lower the ears independently or in tandem. Similar to radar for honing in on sounds.
• Dogs can hear with each ear independently
• Your dog’s breed and ear shape will play a large role in their hearing ability

Dogs are fascinating creatures and their hearing is no exception! Certainly, our limited understanding of the capabilities of canines’ senses plays a part in their toy choices.

Why is a background in dog anatomy and biology necessary when choosing a dog toy?

Understanding your dog will help you influence your dog’s choices and will help you find a dog toy that your dog loves even if your dog hates toys. For example, how many times have you bought a dog bed or dog toy and your dog (or cat) is more interested in playing with the box that it came in? Me too! That’s because an untreated cardboard box (made out of trees) is less toxic and resembles nature more than a flame retardant, chemical foam stuffed, petroleum-based treated dog bed or toy. A toxic chemical or oil-based dog toy you won’t find in nature. It seems obvious that a pet would rather play with the less toxic and more natural item. And now you also know why a stinky rotting carcass is more enticing than a shiny new dog toy.

Pro Tip 5: Your body language and emotion. Dogs will read your body language before listening to your words. Your body language is communicating with your dog more than your words are.

The word or cue you are using while dog training is not as important. Your prosodic of speech, tone, rhythm, and pitch of your voice are far more important than the word itself.

Dogs can pick up on your emotions through emotional contagion and limbic resonance. When your mood changes your dog knows! Are you playing with your dog when you are stressed or don’t really want to? To ensure the greatest success in making your dog love their toys and want to interact with you, make sure to check-in with your own emotions and body language before playing with your puppy.

Many times we use the term emotional contagion to describe the viral spread of affect or behavior between social beings as a reason for a dog/cat or animal to sense beyond what we comprehend.

However, dogs perceive the world in a much different way than we do and have highly attuned, sensitive, sophisticated, advanced, and specialized survival mechanisms and senses that have evolved over thousands of years.

Dog toy manufacturers and designers don’t typically cater to a dog’s senses or know how to make a dog interested in a toy, so your dog ignores the toy. Businesses are busy trying to do what they do best – make money. So if you consider how the dog toy sounds, smells, feels, moves, looks, tastes, etc., you will tilt the odds in your favor so that your dog will be interested in the toy. Many dogs that don’t like dog toys suddenly become interested when a parent buys (or makes) an appropriate species-specific toy for them.

Pro Tip 6: A dog’s chase response (See Page 609 of Overall KL: Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats). Take advantage of a dog’s chase response. Dogs will naturally run after things or beings that move. Has your dog ever chased after you while running or lunged after a jogger, biker, car, or skateboarder? Your dog’s chase response is responsible for that. We use a dog’s chase response to our advantage when we train retrieves and call our dog to come to us, but also when we play with dog toys. When thrown, dog toys will naturally elicit a chase response in your dog causing them to run after their toy. Just remember to take off your dog’s leash first!

Dog Toy Caveats

Just because a dog loves a toy doesn’t mean it is safe or healthy for your dog to play with. Consider if your dog ingests parts of a toy, will it make him sick? Will a dog cut their mouth chewing the toy? Will the dog toy’s hardness break a dog’s tooth? Is the dog toy too small so that your dog may be at risk of choking or swallowing the toy?  Also, since we use primary reinforcers (food) in conjunction with so many dog toys, always know what is safe to feed your dog and what food is dangerous for dogs to eat!

Toys For Dogs That Don’t Like Dog Toys Summary

Here are all of the dog toys we use and recommend for dogs that don’t like toys

There are as wide a variety of dog toy materials as there are dog toys. Here are some dog toys and materials to consider.

• Kong toys – Ones where you can stuff food in. The traditional ones are cone-shaped ones.
• Rope toys
• Squeaky dog toys
• Eco-Friendly / Environmental friendly dog toys
• Plush fabric dog toys
• Nylabone plastic bones and toys
• Elk Antlers – They naturally fall off Elk. No animals are hurt or exploited to acquire Elk antlers
• Some other great eco-friendly toys are from Planet Dog

Dog play, toys, and enrichment are mandatory for a dog’s health, joy, and a great way to enrich your dog’s life and change their behavior for the better. Dogs also have to be taught to love toys and what is appropriate and inappropriate to play with and chew. However, if you invest the time and effort when you first adopt a dog into your family, you will be happily rewarded with a well-adjusted, happy, nondestructive dog and a long symbiotic life of homeostasis for years to come. Dog toys are fun, build great toy habits, and extinguish undesirable ones! What are you waiting for, your dog is learning at this very moment.

Dog Toy Training Experts

Do you have a dog that doesn’t like toys no matter what you do? We are Certified dog training and behavior experts with decades of teaching dogs to love their toys.

See how we can help you with your dog today from anywhere in the world, through our Phone/Video Consultations or from right here in Los Angeles, California. Fill out this short form for an expert Certified Dog Behaviorist and Trainer to help you with your dog’s training today.

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