Destructive Free

[lvoss]

At our house we have lots of "skins" of old toys which are a favorite especially of the puppies. My dogs particularly enjoy the fuzzy hedgehogs from PetEdge. They pluck them, unstuff them and then proudly parade aroudn the house with the "skin". As for non-stuffed toys, a big favorite in the house is the Busy Buddy. We will put their kibble in their Busy Buddies and let them work it all out as a way to eat a meal and keep them busy.

[youngandtired]

My B, Sahara has never unstuffed her toys, she loves the Hedgehogs as well, got her one when she was very young and it is still one of her favorites. She has lots of toys b/c she does not destroy them. She likes to destroy my stuff instead, lets see, here's the list: chewed marks into my new coffeetable, chewed into new endtables, chewed spindle in wooden daybed in guest room, have replaced my glass frames 1 time, lenses 2, chews anything plastic(clothes baskets, large plastic tops of bins, handles on scissors, handles on brooms, plastic covers for her can food, ink pens) my hubby's glasses, my upper teeth plate(that was expensive to replace and embrassing) my bedrooms shoes and countless other items. This was mostly done when she was a puppy, except my bedroom shoes I just got for Christmas. I used all I could fine to deter her from chewing and nothing worked except time and making sure she did not get things off of my counters, and tables. She still surfs for things but we have learned the hard way to PUT THINGS OUT OF HER REACH, AND THOSE LEGS ARE LIKE HANDS. I buy her things to chew on all the time, even when she was a puppy. She is much better now since she is older, but will chew on things now and then if given the chance. We never give her socks either, she is a bandit and will steal things out of our clothes basket like socks, and underwear if we leave the door open (have a new basket that seems to be more trouble for her to open now). But to be honest I think it is our fault now if she gets things we don't want her to have, we are smarter now, we KNOW she likes to chew. I also suggest you buy stuffed toys that are cheap til you find out if you have a degutter basenji. haha!!!!!Oh and by the way, she got those scissors when they were left on kitchen counter, she brought them to her with those long legs she uses like hands, I thought I was going to have a heart attack b/c she wanted me to chase her for them. This B is a real character and that is why we LOVE HER SO MUCH! She makes us laugh everyday over and over and things are just things, but she gives us love unconditionally!!!:D

[BasenjiDiva]

All the dogs we've ever owned have gutted their toys….except for Cory. Cory has only gutted one toy and it was a little long legged creature. She gutted it immediately and then killed it for good when DH left it on top of the crate when he crated her so he could go run an errand. Cory managed to grab the leg of the toy and pulled it into the crate...where she then did everything but vaporize the little critter. She doesn't mind the crate but hates to be left alone so something had to suffer. :eek: Cory has 2 crates - one is her bedtime crate and it stays in our room. She does no damage to that bedding. The other crate is her crate for being fed, left alone, or going on a car trip. She destroys any bedding put into that crate and so we accept old towels and sheets from family and friends to use there. For her bedtime crate, we found cheap ($4 each) fleece throws at Big Lots. One is wrapped around some covered foam. The other is bunched up in there and she burrows under it until no basenji can be seen. It is funny to see.

I recently saw a catalog that advertised a dog bed that was supposedly indestructable. In fact, if the dog destroyed it, they say they will replace it. I would love to see someone with a destructive basenji give that promise a test. I think it was Orvis but can't swear to it.

Pat

[tanza]

Watch anything that is foam wrapped…ggg... been there seen what they can do with foam.. and it ain't pretty.... I don't buy anything that is foam wrapped

[tanza]

And remember what ever you buy, Basenjis like to dig… they dig in their beds to get that "nest" just perfect... and all they need it one thread.. and the party is over...

[BasenjiDiva]

@tanza:

Watch anything that is foam wrapped…ggg... been there seen what they can do with foam.. and it ain't pretty.... I don't buy anything that is foam wrapped

When we first got Cory, I found a 3 sectioned preschool naptime mat. It was made of foam wrapped in vinyl and each section was almost exactly the size of the floor of Cory's crate. The way the sections were seamed made it easy to cut into 3 separate pads. "Won't these be comfy", I thought VERY naively. LOL! Well the first time I crated her with one of the mats, she destroyed it and then redestroyed it for good measure. I didn't know that foam could end up in that small of pieces!! Now I have the last remaining section of the doomed mat in a pillow case, and then wrapped in a fleece in her sleeping crate. So far so good….but that's only because she really, really likes her nighttime nest.

Pat

[MacPack]

Ah yes, I had a latex mattress years ago. Foam can be divided into many small pieces. You gasp, not quite believing your eyes….and the dogs are so proud of their work.

Anne in Tampa

[tanza]

@MacPack:

Ah yes, I had a latex mattress years ago. Foam can be divided into many small pieces. You gasp, not quite believing your eyes….and the dogs are so proud of their work.

Anne in Tampa

Exactly…:D

[Ninabeana26]

Thanks for the info everyone! I found out we go pick him up on the 24th so I imagine I will go next weekend to the mall & look around for a nice bed but nothing too expensive. I might try used blankets from goodwill though before putting in a bed to see if he destroys it. As for toys, I think we've decided to stick with things like rubber balls, kongs, & bones.

Does anyone recommend greenies or nylabones? I have heard good things about both but just recently heard from someone that greenies can be bad as well (?) I know my dogs go crazy over them though!

Also, what type of foods does everyone recommend?

[tanza]

For food you need to use what your breeder is currently feeding at first… then if you want to change do it slowly over a few week period. Look for foods that are natural and for me, I try to stay away from foods with grains... I am using the Natural Balance Potato and Duck...

Nylabones are great.. I personally don't like the greenies... I also like bully sticks...

For toys... honestly, even if they "unstuff" the toys, they really like them... and rubber balls are pretty useless for Basenjis... You are missing lots of fun if they don't have soft toys... some hold up better then others... IMO, I would never have a puppy without many soft toys for them along with other things...

[Ninabeana26]

Yea we'll have some of the softer destuffable toys I don't mean rubber balls. There is a toy I found that is rubber but has a bunch of holes in it…that's what I plan to get him. It's hard to explain it though! Haha.

[WBL]

@Ninabeana26:

Yea we'll have some of the softer destuffable toys I don't mean rubber balls. There is a toy I found that is rubber but has a bunch of holes in it…that's what I plan to get him. It's hard to explain it though! Haha.

Is this what you refer too?
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750990&cp=2767032.2767084&view=all&fbn=Taxonomy%7CToys&f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F2767084&fbc=1&parentPage=family&keepsr=1
I have one and Tiggy likes it sometimes, other times he has no interest in it, so it's a 50/50 with him

[Ninabeana26]

@WBL:

Is this what you refer too?
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2750990&cp=2767032.2767084&view=all&fbn=Taxonomy%7CToys&f=Taxonomy%2FPET%2F2767084&fbc=1&parentPage=family&keepsr=1

Yep that's it! I want to train our B to play fetch so I figured this & perhaps a frisbee would be good to work with. I've heard many Bs won't play frisbee but I am really going to try to train ours to. I guess I will have to have plenty of treats if/when he brings the ball back to me. :p

Do you recommend greenies/nylabones?

[lvoss]

Good luck with fetch. Mine have never shown any interest in retrieving objects, except some of their fuzzy toys. It was kind of funny, when we were teaching retrieve, I would bring objects that I thought they would mouth so I could click and treat, and in class they would ignore them or at best a touch with their nose. My mom's boys will chase and retrieve those soft frisbees that they sell but only a couple of times before they decide just running is more fun.

[lvoss]

As for soft toys, take a look at PetEdge, http://www.petedge.com, they have many different stuffed toys at good prices, along with other great supplies like beds, treats etc. I usually include some stuffies whenever I place an order. Like I said earlier in the thread, mine really like their unstuffed "skins" and will dig them out of the toy box to parade around the house. Most of the stuffies actually survive for a long time though since my only one who actually starts holes is my boy the others will only unstuff a toy if the find a hole.

[tanza]

No kidding about retrieving… that is one of the biggest problems Ann has with doing OB with Crystal, the dumbell, she doesn't even want it in her mouth.. (but she is getting better at it)... Kristii will retrieve her "lama limer" toy.. but she will only bring it back to the pillow in front of the TV or the couch, never to a person...ggg And yes, sometime they will chase and sort of retrieve... but then you throw it and they look at you like, "Nope, you want it, you go get it"...

[renaultf1]

LOL…count me in as one who says good luck on the fetching.

I'll throw a toy for Ruby (I squeak it first to get her attention). She might go chase it, and if she does, she'll grab the toy, throw it in the air and play with it, but never bring it back. Once in a while she'll bring it back to her bed, but that is rare. Just like Pat, I too have had the look from Ruby that says, "you threw it, you go get it." :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[youngandtired]

When I first got my Basenji I read that they do not like to play fetch, they just don't like it. Well, I was determined that NO book was going to tell me that MY B would not fetch. I bought her a small stuffed Hedgehog from Pet Smart with a squeaker and she would go crazy over it. I took her outside and practiced, practiced and gave her small pieces of cheese for a reward and would holler real loud, "Good Girl", throw and treat, throw and treat, she finally got it. I made a Big, Big Deal of it and it is still one of her favorite things to do. She brings me and dh toys to throw for her and off she goes, on and on. I can tell her to get your toy and give it to Daddy and she picks out the one she wants to play with from her toy bucket and gives to Daddy to play fetch. Don't tell me my Furbaby won't do something, we will prove you wrong. haha!!!!!

[wizard]

EL D doesn't want anything to do with playing fetch - doesn't matter if I bribe with treats - he thinks it's beneath him. However, he does love to chase after wooden or plastic lure-type things if I pull them on a string.

[hdolbow]

last night my boyfriend and I played monkey in the middle with rocky he sat on the floor and i sat up on the bed and rocky ran back and forth between us for a good amount of time… he'll fetch his fuzzy toys and brings them right back.. but he lets you know when hes done.. [he'll circle around on the bed and PLOP down:D ] it only lasts a few minutes though..