# True or False about stuffed animal toys



## SewSleepy (Sep 4, 2012)

Stuffed animal toys increase prey drive and increase the potential for issues/incidents with small, furry animals in the house with the dog.

Stuffed animal toys confuse the dog about stuffed animals that are ok to play with and ones that are not (human child's stuffed animals).

I believe both are true so Seven does not have any stuffed animal toys. She does occasionally grab one of my daughters but we take it away as soon as we see it. I'm getting bored with the toys we do have though and was wanting to branch out a bit. 


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

My dogs love stuffies, well Apache & Lakota do, Kiya only plays with balls. Apache has high play drive, both females have high prey drives. I think it depends on the individual dog. All of my dogs have been raised with cats.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

I am not sure I believe that. Puppies, being opportunists, are liable to play with whatever they can get their paws on, no matter what kind of toys you give them. But they quickly learn what is "theirs" to play with and what is not--and some dogs actually become quite picky as they mature. Luka has lots of stuffed toys, but has become very fond of two of them, and eschews the rest--she's done this since she was young.

I don't think stuffed toys increase prey drive. If anything builds prey drive, it's a ball, tug-of-war, or flirt pole. Some people say that if there is a squeaker in the toy, it will cause a dog to go after small animals that squeak. I am not sure I believe this either. I have always given my dogs squeaky toys and have never had an incident with them going after a cat or small animal. In fact, Luka once rescued a mouse from one of my cats, laid down with it between her paws, and would not let any of the cats near it!


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## Blanketback (Apr 27, 2012)

I say false, based on my experience. I've had 4 GSDs, all played with squeekie stuffed toys, all trained to ignore other animals. Except for my first darling who was allowed to chase squirrels (because they ask for it, lol) but after catching one covered in bugs that was the end of that. And they were also living under the same roof with cats, rats and birds that they all left alone. Well...except for my latest cat who asks for it too, lmao.


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## sashadog (Sep 2, 2011)

This reminds me of a couple that came into the feed/supply store and work at and told me proudly that they weren't giving their puppies anything to chew on because then they would learn that it's ok to chew...  luckily I was able to change their minds and they walked away with several buffalo bones, raw ribs, and bully sticks. Just like with stuffed toys it's all about giving them an appropriate outlet for a natural behavior.


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## mycobraracr (Dec 4, 2011)

Yes, and I was also told by a GSD specialist never to play tug with a GSD because it makes them aggressive. Hmm.... Where do they get some of these theories?


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

False! I think the only bad thing a stuffie teaches a dog is that they can tear up (de-stuff) a toy. Once a dog has learned this is a fun thing to do, the wonderful world of stuffed toys is over.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

Echo loves stuffies, loves to eventually shred them... but anything small and furry and living he's petrified of. Cats, ferrets, chinchillas... he has been exposed to all and never had an issue except for him trying to hide.


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

Lilie said:


> False! I think the only bad thing a stuffie teaches a dog is that they can tear up (de-stuff) a toy. Once a dog has learned this is a fun thing to do, the wonderful world of stuffed toys is over.


How true this is! Bear loves stuffed toys, but no matter how tough it says the toy is, he will always tear it apart.
I just bought these crazy balls yesterday for Bear's birthday. They are balls that are fur(like) covered with eyes stiched on it, they're called 
i-balls.
They have squeakers in them which made it even better for Bear, he likes anything furry and with squeakers!


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

I lean toward (with small puppies) to avoid squeaky toys. I believe it does reward prey drive. But, then again; I work in loose pack environments so I see what happens when a dog for whatever reason squeals. (we have a chocolate lab at work that literally screams at feeding time...you'd be amazed what the pack does and another chocolate lab that screams and runs around like a banshee on crack when he hears his dad's truck)
I've seen Labradors and Golden Retrievers put terriers to shame with prey driven behavior.

I do avoid *cloth *toys as sometimes you may end up with a puppy that thinks ALL cloth is to be pounced upon: dish towels, socks, curtains, kid's stuffed animals, etc. When the puppy is older I don't sweat it as much.

The closest to cloth that I'll do is a rope toy. Alice is easy....all she cares about it THE BALL. Zoey, the weasel really enjoys killing things: toys, rats, and even a bird once....good thing that Zoey is small enough to step on.....
(disclaimer: the last sentence is sarcasm/joke I would never step on my dog intentionally)


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## I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO (Oct 4, 2006)

My dog loves stuffed toys, especially when they squeak- but he definitely knows the difference between a toy and our cats, or any other small animals for that matter and what he does to his toys does not transfer to small animals. Dogs are pretty smart and I would expect that they would understand this.

He also knows what toys are his. I have had foster dogs who try to take stuffed animals that aren't toys, or even small pillows. But I have no idea what kind of training they have had-so I'm likely to attribute it to their old owners.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

CarrieJ said:


> The closest to cloth that I'll do is a rope toy. Alice is easy....all she cares about it THE BALL. Zoey, the weasel really enjoys killing things: toys, rats, and even a bird once....good thing that Zoey is small enough to step on.....
> (disclaimer: the last sentence is sarcasm/joke I would never step on my dog intentionally)


That cracked me up. The fact that you had to put a disclaimer on that statement.

"Zoey don't need no stinkin' prong collar! All I gotta do is give him a good stompin'..."


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## Bear GSD (Apr 12, 2012)

I have to say that while Bear loves to chew and tear up any type of soft or plushy toy. He has never chewed on anything that he was not supposed to. We leave him uncrated for periods of 1-2 hours when we're gone and he has never gotten into anything he wasn't supposed to.
He also has been exposed to a lot of small animals and has always shown restraint. We have a lot of cats and praire dogs in my area, I have just worked with him a lot on not going bonkers when he sees a small animal. I guess it depends on your dog, but my dog has played tug, flirt pole, stuffed animals and with squeakies and he seems ok with it all.


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

Lilie said:


> That cracked me up. The fact that you had to put a disclaimer on that statement.
> 
> "Zoey don't need no stinkin' prong collar! All I gotta do is give him a good stompin'..."


I actually really mean puppies (infants) they really do have the attention span of the common gnat. Oh sure, some can have real focus, but it doesn't take much to see that "bright shiny object"

I also live in an area where for some unfathomable reason people decide to become first time dog owners and pick dogs like:
Catahoula Leopard Dog
German Shepherd
Australian Cattle Dog
Japanese Kai Ken (I had to google that one when it came in)
Akita
Briard
Boxer

I'm waiting for a Belgian Malinios, Dutch Shepherd, and now thanks to Nancy a Texas Blue Lacey in the hands of a first time dog owner.
 
Oh, and lives in an urban sprawl rowhouse/condo with not even a balcony as a yard on the third floor.....


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

My dog loves her stuffed toys. She plays nicely with them and she doesn't eat the cats or anything else in the house. She has been out of her cage completely since she was about 6 months. Never had any issues


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## SewSleepy (Sep 4, 2012)

sashadog said:


> Just like with stuffed toys it's all about giving them an appropriate outlet for a natural behavior.


Everyone has some really good points but I really like this-it makes alot of sense. 

Seven is 6 mos and has been with us for 4. I was already thinking that the chance of her confusing a cat (we have 2) and a toy was probably diminished since she's already had the exposure to ours. Since she's been snagging my daughter's stuffed animals despite not ever having stuffies of her own I was also thinking that the connection I thought was there may not be. 

Looks like we may be having a field trip to the pet store later this week. Thanks everyone!





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## Capone22 (Sep 16, 2012)

A dog is too smart to confuse a stuffed animal with a live animal. Both my dogs have played with stuffed animals I've given them. It always gets shredded and dr stuffed. But the older leaves my daughters stuffed animals alone. It's just a matter of teaching rules, IMO. You can chew up this stuffed toy I'm giving you, leave the others alone. Just like any other toy. And my dog would never chase or kill a small animal. He acts scared of them. 


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## stealthq (May 1, 2011)

I could understand some confusion the first time being around a small animal if the dog had stuffed squeaky toys. Isn't that where training is supposed to step in, though? You don't allow the dog to chase/catch the small animal but you do the toy. Dogs will figure out the difference.


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## kiya (May 3, 2010)

Even though Lakota has a very high prey drive, she can resist small critters, at least while I am around. Several times we've come across frogs, turtles and she will "leave it". Just the other day I heard a loud bang on a window. I ran out back and saw that a bird crashed into the glass door. The bird was clearly knocked out and was laying there with Lakota looming over it. I'm kind of funny about touching things with my bare hands so I quickly went inside and grabbed a towel. Lakota could have taken the bird but she didn't. It took a while but the little bird recovered and flew away.
I also keep a bunch of stuffed animals on my night stand. Lakota loves to lay on the bed and of course when she was a puppy she couldn't resist them. It didn't take much for her to get the idea they were off limits.


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## vicky2200 (Oct 29, 2010)

All of our dogs have stuffed animals at all times. They love them and it keeps them from being interested in tearing up our furniture. I got a toy poodle puppy in February who was 4lbs at the time. He was about the size of a stuffed animal and at first I was worried they may hurt him, simply because he is small, not because of the animals. They do great! Daisy loves playing with him. Mostly I have to worry about her pawing him to death because she likes to smack him with her paw. And let me tell you her prey drive is HIGH. She finds squirrels in trees while we are walking. They are way above us not making a noise, but she sees them and stares them down.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

a stuffie for a German Shepherd.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

CarrieJ said:


> I lean toward (with small puppies) to avoid squeaky toys. I believe it does reward prey drive. But, then again; I work in loose pack environments so I see what happens when a dog for whatever reason squeals.


That's a good point, and I've heard Terrier people say that they do not give their dogs squeaky toys for that very reason: they learn to attack anything that squeals. I might argue that the Terrier would do that whether it had a squeaky toy or not, though!

I can see how it could be a bad idea for some breeds, but the GSD is a different type of dog, and I think they will know the difference between a squeaky toy and a small animal.

And dogs will pack up on another dog if it's squealing. But I don't know if it has anything to do with whether the dogs had squeaky toys or not.


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

I also think it's false. My previous male GSD had a stuffed 'person' from 8 weeks old that he'd sleep with and literally suck on the thing's head when he was tired. Any other stuffie he'd tear up, but not this toy. I bought them in batches, afraid they'd stop making them (which they did). When my kid's hamster would get out, that same dog would find it, but never touch it. He didn't get into other stuffed things, either. When I got the parrots, my 'worst nightmare' came true and one got on the floor by accident when the shepherds were out. They circled him the second he touched down, but neither shepherd dared lay a paw on him. It was "mine" and they had a firm grasp on "leave it".


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

SewSleepy said:


> Everyone has some really good points but I really like this-it makes alot of sense.
> 
> Seven is 6 mos and has been with us for 4. I was already thinking that the chance of her confusing a cat (we have 2) and a toy was probably diminished since she's already had the exposure to ours. Since she's been snagging my daughter's stuffed animals despite not ever having stuffies of her own I was also thinking that the connection I thought was there may not be.
> 
> ...


Oooh! Have fun, and never fret about your dog mistaking one of your cats as a squeaky stuffed animal....
Young dogs learn pretty quick that cats have five sets of teeth....


And a "knock it off" coming from a cat usually is a lasting impression.


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

Freestep said:


> That's a good point, and I've heard Terrier people say that they do not give their dogs squeaky toys for that very reason: they learn to attack anything that squeals. I might argue that the Terrier would do that whether it had a squeaky toy or not, though!
> 
> I can see how it could be a bad idea for some breeds, but the GSD is a different type of dog, and I think they will know the difference between a squeaky toy and a small animal.
> 
> ...


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## Jenna&Me (Sep 27, 2012)

All my girls have love stuffed toys. The first knew that if they were on our bed she wasn't to touch. The second snaffled any stuffed toy she could get.

The third is still to short to get onto the bed lol.

The breeder she came from has a basket of stuffed toys for the puppies to play with during their outside time. She even gave Jenna a brand new one as a going away present.


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## SewSleepy (Sep 4, 2012)

I thought I'd update since I'm awake and it's been a while. Seven got a stuffed animal with a squeeker. It's a porcupine. It spent the first few days under our bed with her other "treasures" that se hides from us, but has been making its way into the rest of the house more. She's not overly obsessed with it, but will walk around with it in her mouth just squeezing it. 

She does seem to be leaving my daughter's stuffed animals alone more which is nice and the behavior with the cats is about the same. So far so good.


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