I was recently reminded that many may not know why we created DogToyStuffz. It all started when Sydney, our Australian Shepard mix, swallowed a squeaky toy part in her favorite plush dog toy. She, like many dogs, loved this favorite dog toy and cared for it like it was her own little puppy. One day, Charlie, our teenaged German Shepard x-dog mutt rescued from a shelter in New Mexico, decided that he wanted to play with her too. He especially loved the squeaky sounds the dog toy made when chewed on. So … he snatched Sydney’s squeaky dog toy. That was it, her momma-dog instincts kicked in and a tug of war began. Poor little doggie toy! Needless to say, the favorite dog toy lost but Sydney did manage to save the squeaky toy part from inside … by swallowing it! The good thing is that we discovered it soon and got her the surgery she needed right away.
After Sydney was healthy and playing again we decided that our family household maybe shouldn’t have dog toys with squeakers in them. So, we went on a hunt to find some. We soon found it was really difficult to find dog toys that Sydney could engage in, cuddle with and carry around with her that didn’t all have squeaky parts in them. We could find soft, plush, cuddly children’s stuffed animals without squeakers, but those weren’t tough enough or properly safe enough to handle any one of the dogs chewing on it or another tug of war.
What was strange was it was easy to find the replaceable squeakers for dog toys but not one plush dog toy that had an opening already built-in to make the replacement (or removal) easy. That meant that we were either going to cut open, remove the squeaker and resew the toy ourselves… which we did for several years…. or keep searching to find some dog toy playing alternatives.
All the plush dog toys with no squeak or replaceable squeaker openings already built-in we have put into this Collection:
We’ve also included no-squeak toy alternatives that we play with here or plan to try out ourselves too.
Right now, Kong does have a cute brand of Comfort Kiddos removable squeaker plush toy animals like their Bear or the Elephant and the Lion and most come in different sizes depending on the size of your dog. They all have a tough Velcro opening so you can remove or replace the squeaker part. Kong describes these dog toys as having a “removable squeaker for quiet time”.
Our other favorite toy that has let Sydney and our little Nova nuzzle about, is the Snuffle Mat we found, where you can place little treats in and around and the root and nuzzle for a while! Two different Snuffle mats we like are:
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Petstages has also made some that we love and have lasted for years of play so far, even the smaller, mini size puppy toys like these:
We know some dog owners have trouble dealing with just the stuffing and that, if swallowed, can cause some issues or healthy concerns for some dogs. Personally, with all of our mixed breeds from huge to tiny ones, the stuffing has just made a mess and not been an issue for any health reasons in our dogs. But, we have many no-stuffing dog toys that are also found in our shop at DogToyStuffz.
If you aren’t sure what to try, give us a shout and we will gladly give you our suggestions depending on the way your dog likes to play.
