ATB: Safe Dog Toys / Treasure's NOT so pretty treasure

The remains of a dog toy vomited up over a period of several days.

The warnings on a toy designed exclusively for a dog are there for a good reason.  Namely, do not leave your dog unattended or unsupervised with that toy.  I rarely if ever will leave a toy that could somehow be mangled or destroyed by the dog while confined to a crate.  When leaving a dog alone in the house, one with good manners and not known to chew or destroy things I will still run through and pick up every toy that has a squeaky inside of it, or that may otherwise could be destuffed. I'm talking Brittanys. And those of you who own them know exactly what I mean.  In all honesty, I've never been one to buy a lot of dog toys as much fun as a pup or adult dog has with them.  Sometimes I am too much of a realist for my own good.  Especially so when it comes to toys for dogs.  I always appreciate it when our crew is gifted with a toy from a friend and love seeing the excitement and playfulness that results when enjoyed by it's recipient. But I am always very leery and watchful.  It's easy to get lax or complacent when watching them play with a stuffed or stuffingless squeaky toy.  And each of our Brittanys handles toys a different way. We have those who demonstrate prize envy coupled with a strong prey drive. This means they will scoff every single toy up within sight, hoard those collected, and sometimes even hide them from the other dogs. Then there is the dog who proudly carries their toy in their mouth with head held high, squeaking merrily along.  There is another dog who happily brings a toy to me, sits and waits for me to do something - anything - with it.   And so on and so forth.  Please don't get me wrong - I love to see our Brittanys enjoy all manner of toys.  But I find I must revert to my original train of thought: the majority of dog toys out there today are dangerous.  I suppose to say dogs shouldn't have toys would be the equivilant of saying if there was better gun control there would be less crime.  It's not the gun that is dangerous in itself though - it's what happens when that gun falls into the wrong hands and is used in a criminal way. Something like that - you know what I mean.

Returning home from a dog show usually means that I'm packing.  Packing a new dog toy or two.  There are a couple of special toys I look for with Treasure in mind.  In 2007 when Treasure won Best in Sweepstakes at the Northern New England Brittany Club Specialty which was her very first show, she came home with all kinds of gifts including a large, jack shaped, toy.  Since then, we have gone through several and she always takes extra care of this particular toy. I have always wondered if it was because of all the joy that particular day brought to us. Treasure seems to have a rule about her toys.  As long as it has not been picked up and carried by any other Brittany here, it does not get destroyed. The moment though she smells another's scent on it - she kills it. 

Another absolutely favorite toy of Treasure's is a little stuffed pheasant and/or quail made by the Migrator, Company. Although they seem to be more difficult to find now it is a brand that makes upland game birds in several different sizes.  Being one of the toys I consider to be potentially dangerous - she could only play with it when in my immediate presence. Other times it was kept safely up high on top of the refridgerator. If you have been here and wondered why she falls into a trancelike state while gazing up by the fridge - that'd be the reason.

Jack on the other hand probably still has his very first toy here - somewhere - still intact, just like he is. His first toy was a cute little ball called 'Hol-ee Roller' .  We bought that for him when he was just a pup because his sister 'Annie' came to visit and she had one.  That summer, when I was hanging clothes out on the line, Jack would proudly walk back and forth in a straight line, one end of the yard to the next with that ball in his mouth.  Every dog here has it's own favorite toy but the reality of it is most of them do not last very long. We have experimented with a gazillion different toys, including those which are deemed to be indestructable.  Wish - forget about it. Wish cannot handle toys, blankets, balls or anything.  That may be the wrong way to put it. Let's just say she handles them too well - the disintigrate within moments of contact.  Just ask Bullet. And I am sure he understands why no toys are allowed in the kennel - not even briefly. He has managed to keep a blanket safely contained inside of the crate which is in his indoor run.  I guarantee though, if Wish even looks at that - she will mysteriously will it over to where she can paw it through to her side and it will look like swiss cheese within seconds.  Pippin knows this to be true.  She's in heat and consequently spends time next to Wish. Pippin had a blanket with her. HAD being the key word. (No, not her puppy blanket that Julie repaired recently for the third time. The big one that I keep in her crate inside the house.)  There are those dogs here who also like to simply cuddle with a toy, lay their head upon it... before they kill it and I'm NOT mentioning any other names for it would truly betray their oh so positive public image.

Scooby loves to collect balls. He is a Brittany who loves to retrieve. In the field, he USUALLY retrieves to hand but not always.  Like this past week when he showed how pigheaded he can be but that is another story. Even so - tennis like balls scare the living daylights out of me.  All of them.  We have friends who are breeders of prize winning champion Redbones.  What happened to one of their dogs in the past turned me away from letting our dogs have tennis balls or any balls resembling them - no matter the brand or size.  One of their beautiful dogs began to show symptoms of intestinal blockage which resulted in a trip to the veterinarean.  It was determined that surgery was needed.  The result was that this dog had a build up in it's system of the 'fuzzy stuff' many tennis like balls are covered with!  I've never been a fan of dogs playing with tennis balls although they are probably one of the most popular dog toys out there. There are horror stories of dogs chewing the fuzz off (like our friends) then popping the seams open and chewing the rubber or whatever they are made of - swallowing and choking.  Also the covering on them can be hazardous to their teeth, it's abrasive and can wear the enamel down.  I hate to sound like such a negative Nellie but just as surely as parents are extremely cautious about what their children are allowed to play with, so should a dog owner be equally so or more!  Why take chances.

And then there is rawhide!! OMG I cannot believe there are even products still on the market made of rawhide.  Not only are there serious concerns for dogs who are given rawhide products but those risks extend to humans. Seriously. Contact with bacteria Salmonella or E. Coli contamination is possible for starters in regards to rawhide treats or toys.  And have you ever had to pull a piece of rawhide out of your dogs throat because it became so soft and gooey, swelling up, and then became stuck? Choking, blockage or worse is possible. It's not always possible to reach in there and remove these pieces and sometimes open surgery is needed to remove them. Hopefully remove them I should add.   A few years ago 'Greenies' were the subject of great controversy.  I have no personal experience with them but when the reports began to surface on the Internet about the product getting lodged in a dogs throat I was certain I didn't want to take a chance. (Recently I gave one to Pippin but was a nervous wreck the whole time. I won't do it again.)

Through the years I have seen some pretty disgusting things from either end of our dogs. I'm not being gross. I'm being honest.  In hopes to help some of you avoid a disaster! I'm convinced that some Brittanys are part goat. If there is the slightest bit of food scent on a plastic bag, dish towel, aluminum foil or basically any other non-edible product the Brittany is most apt to try to consume whatever remains. Including the object that it seemingly remains on.

I'm not trying to be intentionally crude or deliberately offensive by sharing my opinion and experiences about various dog toys, treats, etc. Neither am I trying to offer anectodes here without any actual evidence other than my word. Hopefully though my word is good enough! In the long run we all have to weigh the risks and benefits of what we permit our dogs to have in their mouth, to play with and/or eat.  Toys are a very necessary and beneficial aspect for your dogs enjoyment. Especially for dogs who must be left alone and unsupervised during the day. But even when you are home with you dog it's necessary to have eyes in the back of your head. 

TREASURES's Not so pretty 'treasure'.  If you have a weak stomach please do not read further!  The photograph at the top of this blog is there for you all to see what a semi-digested, stuffingless, squeaky toy looks like after it was thoroughly chewed up, swallowed and later regurgitated through vomit over a period of about 3 days.  No signs were given that this had been ingested.  Stool, appetite, appearance, thirst, level of activity, body temperature - all appeared to be perfectly normal.  The other morning Treasure ran up onto the porch and looked at me and then began to heave.  The first of several pieces of who knows what was vomited. At first it looked like the remains of an animal of some kind.  After a few minutes she stopped vomiting, came in, took a drink of water and lay down to rest.  I closely examined the YUCK under running water and recognized the toy that it had been.  What gave it away at first was the shiny squeaker.  Scary, huh.  I checked Treasure all over and watched her closely.  I then remembered she had been in the outdoor run the night before while we took a trip to Augusta the other night for a Brittany club meeting. When John came home  I asked him if he'd seen anything unusual in the kennel that morning.  Sure enough, he had raked aside something that looked very similar to the YUCK Treasure had vomited. I washed this out (told you not to read it if you have a weak stomach).  I took a picture of the mess and decided to  blog about the hazards of such dog toys.  This thing lay dormant in her stomach and thank God - THANK GOD!!!! Treasure was able to vomit each and every piece. 

I had no idea she'd injested it but in retrospect I do think I know what happened.  My sweet little Treasure is clever and coy as a fox. She is a conniving little thief and if a pocket, duffel or totebag etc. is left within her reach she will not be satisfied to leave it alone until she's thoroughly gone through everything. Treasure's beautiful graceful long legs enable her to access the most unusual places.  Rosie and Molly both had a turn on the grooming table the other day while Hemi and Treasure played nearby.  One of my show bags was high on a shelf, presumably out of reach, containing items from a recent dog show. One of them was a toy to be used to raise Pip's level of enthusiasm in the ring, a toy that had also been stuffed with liver!  This zipped bag somehow was accessed and opened up by Treasure who then discovered the toy. With her strong prey drive and sense of smell I suppose she thought she had hunted down a true wild animal to feast upon.  And all of this out of my sight, just behind the railing from where I was working.  Even though I do not have eyes in the back of my head I feel responsible...

Hence my 'public service announcement' sharing some very real concerns about the toys we allow our dogs to play with, where, when, and why.  By the way I have always used Kongs and Nylabones since 1990 without issue.   Our Brittanys regularly get bones, bones, and more bones.     Anything which, in my opinion is dangerous is - gone.  I will remain of the opinion that there is no such thing as a 100 % safe dog toy and in the meantime leave you with a really great resource about safe dog toys from the "Whole Dog" website, which is entirely based on the author's desire "to see dogs living in the whole health God intended them to." Check it out.

As always, do take care of yourselves and your dog! We appreciate your interest in All Things Brittany, where you really never know what I'm going to write about next.  God bless you - John, Ann, and the crew.