# How many toys should a dog have (at least)?



## finnfinnfriend

What is the minimum acceptable amount of toys that one dog should have? Like to me it seems necessary to at least have a ball, a rope, and a chewy toy to satisfy their behaviors. What to you all think. Has anyone observed dog behavior enough to know?


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## sunstar93

I think it depends on the dog. My dog (a yorkie) loved her little rope toy, she would entertain herself with it, and had one or two favorite squeaky toy; she's also too small for ball toys lol. After a while we finally stopped buying her toys because she only really played with 3. And since she will be 13 in a few months (an old lady lol) she doesn't play with anything at all...
But my friend has 2 great Danes: One loves to play with everything and anything and they are always finding new toys for her (bones, balls, squeaky toys) while the other Dane won't even look twice at anything but one rope toy and sometimes even ignores that (he's a very anxious dog who spends his life pacing the windows and doors and fence....the aftermath of them rescuing him from a hoarders house, the poor thing).
I think it depends on the dog, their mental health (like my friends anxious dog vs her one that always acts like a puppy), stress levels, age...lol. Although I definitely think that every dog should have at least ONE toy, no matter what it is
Sorry for the long post haha


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## Laki

sunstar made a good post 

I agree, it all depends on the dog. My terrier went through hundreds and hundreds of toys in 14 years. His favorites were always ropes but he chewed them up and swallowed strings a lot (not so pleasant during walks...if you catch me) and he liked squeaky toys. He was the type of dog that it did not matter what you bought him, when he knew it was for him the toy was history. He decapitated everything and pulled out the stuffing. It was no good to buy any toy over 5$ because it was flushing the money away. We began scavenging through the thrift stores for toys which probably wouldn't be wanted by children (like ugly or weird ones) and those were his toys. He was good though and would not eat plastic eyes or noses. Any other decoration came off though.

So, I think you recently got a yorkie, right?(maybe that's not you) I would just try to get a bunch of toys and see what he prefers. Some dogs like puzzle games, some like sqeaky's, some like balls, and some like tough hides and bones. Whatever it is, variety is key- pick up a few different ones and play with a new one each day (while putting the others in his toy box or up away- thereby making it a new toy each time)


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## finnfinnfriend

Well since variety is key, I would assume you need at least a few different ones, right?


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## thekinetic

Just one or the more the better, it all depends on the dog and it's propensity to chew them up. My dog sadie use to go through toys, she loved ripping the squeekers out the best, and even chew up basket balls. So she had a pile of toys and things to chew on.


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## shellieca

Depends on the dog & its age. I currently have 5 dogs, Thai (15 yrs old) never cared about toys, Anna (14 yrs old) loves to play tug-o-war so anything that allowed(s) her to do that makes her happy, Rex (12 yrs old) dosn't play but likes to suck on a plush toy once in a while, Gracie (4 yrs old) when a pup needed hard rubber toys because she CHEWED them up & she's was a 4# dog chewing up large dog toys, now she LOVES her burger which is a plush toy, Kaylee my current foster 8 months old plays & chews on pretty every toy in the house, she will take EVERY toy out of the basket. I think when you have a pup to 2-3 yr old they need different textures & hardnesses to chew while cutting teeth & to satisfy there chewing need. As they age their needs typically change.


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## aemaki09

I suggest having a few of different types. My dogs have always really loved stuffed squeeky toys. Thats litterally their favorite inside, but they also like their rope toys.
Outside You really need to have some tennis balls for them to chase. (or smaller balls for smaller dogs, my toy fox terrier picks up a full size tennis ball just fine though) This'll help them get their excersize
Rawhide bones will be your best friend in keeping them occupied as well!


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## LittleBettaFish

Our three German Shepherds have two big plastic boxes of toys that sit inside and outside. Our male is obsessed with his toys and he will rummage around in the toy box for a good five minutes until he finds the toy that he actually wants. 

Our 14 month old puppy likes to get in and pull out all these obscure toys no one has played with in months when she gets bored in the morning before breakfast. However, some of her favourite things are plastic bottles and pieces of my Malaysian driftwood.

I think it depends on the dog, but ours have everything from tennis balls, chew toys, soft toys (dismembered soft toys), tug toys and squeaky toys. Some toys hardly get used once they stop being puppies, while other toys such as our balls with ropes attached and this line of 'Bad/Good Kuz' toys get used almost daily. 

The only reason we have so many now is because our male is a mouther and loves playing with his toys. His favourite is actually like a fake schtuzhund sausage that he will leap onto and 'get' when I give the command. 

I like to give them a variety of toys as it provides stimulation when they have to figure out how to use their new toy. However, if your dog is prone to tearing things apart (especially toys with squeakers or other parts in them) you should probably either supervise when they are playing with certain toys or just give them more indestructible things such as rope tug toys.


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