These are a few of our Favorite Things - Toys

With as many dogs as we have and have had, we've tried a lot of products. Some have been good....some have been awful. In a series of posts, over time, I will share with you what we have found to be the best of these products. These are completely unsolicited posts; just passing along tips that may save you from all of the  $$$$s in bad purchases we made on the way to finding these products.
Toys.... it sounds easy. When Ginger and Gracie got together, they liked to play with toys. First thing.... we were off to PetSmart to buy them an assortment. Squeaky toys, plush toys, rope toys, hard rubber toys, nylatoys.... lots of toys. The house quickly started to fill with fluff, bits of cloth body parts, strings and pieces of rubber. They performed squeakerectomies and fluffosuction with great skill. By the end of the day the only thing recognizable was the snakeskin print on a shred of what was a velour snake toy.
In addition to being a mess, these little pieces of toy now became choke hazards and had to be picked up quickly.
Next thing I did was google "indestructible toys". How could I lose? It sounded like a plan. Below is the "worlds Tuffest soft toy" after only about an hour (still - this is one of my all time favorite photos).

It lasted about two more days. When you have multiple dogs on the same toy at the same time going in different directions, it is the ultimate toy test.
Along the way, I came across the "guaranteed tough" Zogoflex toys by West Paw. By this point, I was pretty skeptical of any guarantees or testimonies to toughness, but i figured it was worth a try.
The bumi was our first try... it did great until Toby came along.

Bumi pre-Toby

Bumi post-Toby

Still, the Bumi was the best so far so we tried another Zogoflex toy, the Hurley. If you know Lucy, you know Hurleys. 50% of the time, Lucy is carrying one or another of our family Hurleys. We have one of every color, and in two years, not one has been destroyed. (we have, however, lost two. We think that Rannie buried them).They get pulled, chewed, dropped, thrown... no damage whatsoever. They are squishy so they satisfy the chewing urge and are are great for pulling and yanking.

Pulling and stretching

one isn't enough for "Two Things" Gracie

 Toby having fun

Lucy's classic pose

they just can't take life seriously

Recently, West Paw came up with a new Zogoflex ball toy called the Jive. It is as popular as the Hurley and is loved by a different group of Old Friends. It's also indestructible and great for the ones who like to hold something in their mouths. Layla, Daisy and Toby especially like it. One warning though, they bounce. We live on a hill and one has already bounced over the fence into oblivion.

Daisy protects her Jive

Zuzu

Layla keeps her Jive close