different toys for different breeds....
I just had this conversation with a student today, who was asking me about Oskar (I was delighted when she asked if he was a Japanese Akita or an American Akita!). She said "I understand Akitas don't fetch." I told her that Oskar, in fact, was pretty good at fetching, and like to play it, but was not obsessive about it.
Then later, I picked up the same conversation with a friend, as we were talking about her GSD was with his ball: yep, typical GSD in that he is OBSESSIVE about it--carried it around, drops it pointedly in front of you, and if you don't throw it, he drops it closer and closer til eventually it is in your lap. My GSD was like that too.
Oskar isn't obsessive about anything so far, though he's pretty excited by squeaky toys (and his recall is exceptional if a squeaky is involved), and does tend to guard them. He likes to play tug, but isn't crazy about it. Fetch is fun, but he usually loses interest after 10 minutes or so (which is fine with me, as I can only take about that much of it too!)
Anyway, I just kept thinking about how you can just predict what some dogs will like toy-wise, just by breed. (My Shibas aren't terribly toy motivated, unless it is a live "toy" like a bird or lizard or even moths, though Bel is obsessive about the laser pointer, and will chase one of those feathery cat toys too)
Have you all noticed certain toys that are favored by certain breeds? Do your dogs fall into certain expected categories? Or do they break breed "stereotypes" in their choice of toys?
Then later, I picked up the same conversation with a friend, as we were talking about her GSD was with his ball: yep, typical GSD in that he is OBSESSIVE about it--carried it around, drops it pointedly in front of you, and if you don't throw it, he drops it closer and closer til eventually it is in your lap. My GSD was like that too.
Oskar isn't obsessive about anything so far, though he's pretty excited by squeaky toys (and his recall is exceptional if a squeaky is involved), and does tend to guard them. He likes to play tug, but isn't crazy about it. Fetch is fun, but he usually loses interest after 10 minutes or so (which is fine with me, as I can only take about that much of it too!)
Anyway, I just kept thinking about how you can just predict what some dogs will like toy-wise, just by breed. (My Shibas aren't terribly toy motivated, unless it is a live "toy" like a bird or lizard or even moths, though Bel is obsessive about the laser pointer, and will chase one of those feathery cat toys too)
Have you all noticed certain toys that are favored by certain breeds? Do your dogs fall into certain expected categories? Or do they break breed "stereotypes" in their choice of toys?
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They also like their bottle bumper, which is a stuffed toy, but instead of stuffing or a squeaker, you put a water bottle inside and it's crunchy.
Neither is into rubbery toys. There are a lot of rubbery dog toys out there, and they really don't care about them.
As for play time... Nola is not really a fetch kind of girl. She is a "I will go fetch it and hide with it so you can not take it and throw it again" kind of girl. Bella likes fetch, but like Oscar, will only do it for a few minutes before she gets bored. Bella is also a fan of tug. Nola likes tug, but would rather snatch it out of my hands and do the death shake.
Mika loves balls, I haven't really tried giving Kyuubi balls yet, but he does love the cuz bad (turned good, ears are gone).
The only rubber toy she's had any interest in is kong toys, which is due to the treats inside, not the toy itself.
Makes sense, though, that the hunting breeds would be super interested in things that make a prey-like squeak!