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When to Throw a Dog Toy Away
Toy-related emergencies almost never involve a brand-new toy. They involve one that has been in the box for months, has been quietly deteriorating, and failed on an ordinary afternoon. A weekly inspection catches nearly all of it.
The universal rules
- If pieces can be pulled off with your fingers, they can be pulled off with teeth.
- If the outer layer is broken and inner material is exposed, it is finished.
- If a squeaker is accessible, it is finished. Squeakers are swallowed whole and lodge readily.
- If the toy is small enough to fit entirely behind the back teeth, it was the wrong size to begin with.
Failure points by material
Rubber
Good rubber flexes. Aged rubber goes hard, then cracks, then breaks into chunks. Look for a chalky surface and loss of flexibility — a toy that has stiffened has aged out even if it looks intact.
Also check the openings on stuffable toys: repeated stretching thins the rim, and a thin rim tears.
Plush
The seam is the failure point. Once it opens, stuffing comes out and gets eaten, and stuffing causes obstructions. A plush toy with an open seam and no stuffing left is not a safe flat toy, it is a swallowable rag.
Sew it up once if you like. After the second failure, retire it.
Rope
The one people keep too long. Rope frays into long strands, and dogs that swallow strands rather than chewing them can develop linear foreign body obstruction, which is serious and often surgical.
Trim frays as they appear, and retire the toy once it will not stay tidy. If you ever see strands in the stool, remove all rope toys immediately.
Tennis balls
Two problems. The felt is abrasive and wears tooth enamel with heavy use. And a ball that has been compressed and split can trap a tongue or be swallowed in halves.
Use purpose-made dog balls rather than sports tennis balls, and retire any ball that has been punctured.
Hard chews
Nylon, antler and bone rarely fail by breaking apart; they fail by breaking teeth. The rule used in veterinary dentistry is that if you cannot dent it with a thumbnail, and you would not want it dropped on your knee, it is hard enough to fracture a carnassial.
Also retire any hard chew worn down small enough to be swallowed, which happens near the end of its life.
A weekly inspection
Tip the toy box out once a week and handle each toy:
- Squeeze it — has the rubber hardened?
- Pull at any protrusion — does anything come away?
- Look at seams and openings.
- Check rope ends for frays.
- Check size against the dog now, not when you bought it. Puppies grow.
This is also the moment to rotate, since half the box should be going back in the cupboard anyway.
Supervision, and what it is for
Watch every new toy for the first few sessions. Dogs approach toys individually, and the way a toy fails depends on how a particular dog attacks it — some hold and gnaw, some shake and tear, and the second group destroys things the first would keep for months.
Toys left with a dog unattended, in a crate or overnight, should only ever be ones you have already watched in use.
Signs a toy has already been swallowed
Vomiting, refusing food, lethargy, straining without producing anything, or a painful abdomen. Any of those in a dog with access to toys is an urgent veterinary matter.
Do not wait to see whether it passes. Obstructions worsen quickly and the outcome depends heavily on how early they are treated.
Cats too
The specific cat hazard is string: wand toy cords, ribbon and elastic. Swallowed string causes linear foreign body obstruction, which is at least as serious in cats as in dogs.
Put wand toys away after every session rather than leaving them out, and check cat toys for loose thread and detached feathers. Powered toys under interactive and electronic toys should have cables checked too.
Budgeting for it
Toys are consumables in an active household, and retiring them on time is cheaper than the alternative. Buy fewer at once and rotate, so the collection lasts longer and nothing sits in the box quietly falling apart.
Our dog toys listings state the material and chewer strength each is built for. Ask us if you are unsure about a specific toy, see the FAQ, or browse the store.
From our shelves
Products in this store that relate to what is covered above:
Prices are in US dollars. Delivery timings are on our shipping policy page and the return and refund policy sets out the window if something is not right.
Key points
- Retire any toy once the outer layer is opened or a squeaker becomes accessible.
- Rope toys need retiring earlier than most people think — ingested strands cause serious internal problems.
- Rubber that has gone hard, cracked or chalky has aged out, whatever it looks like from a distance.
- If pieces can be pulled off with fingers, they can be pulled off with teeth.
- Inspect the whole toy box weekly; damage appears between sessions, not during them.
- Anything hard enough that you would not want it dropped on your knee can fracture a tooth.
