Ask Muddy
The Dog Who Knows What's Best For Him
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Toys
MUDDY AND PLAY. Play was the most important activity in Muddy's life. More important than walks, more important than sleeping, and definitely more important than food. For most of his life we had to play ball with him before he would agree to eat his dinner.
Muddy had lots of toys (Marc once observed that Muddy's toy box "had gone condo"), but aside from the occasional stuffed duck he liked to carry around, or play his "growly game" with, he really just wanted balls. Muddy wasn't a chewer, and he didn't like to play tug-o'-war; he just wanted to play some type of ball game. He and Marc invented all kinds of ball games together. "Ball and Bone" was a popular one, because it incorporated the "growly game" as well. Muddy would bring a bone over to Marc, who would bounce a ball off the wall until Muddy chased it. Marc would then pretend to grab the bone, and Muddy would drop the ball and race over to snatch the bone, growling ferociously. There were other, more complex, games as well. I never understood the rules, but Muddy and Marc both did. Tennis balls and racquet balls were perfect, but he also loved soccer balls he could nose around, and he would play "volleyball" for hours in Lake Michigan, with a light plastic beach ball, nosing the ball back to us in the air. We often had a crowd gathered around us for this game; Muddy was a bit like a performing circus seal.
Just about anything could serve as a toy that Muddy would catch: in winter, snow was ideal. In the park, we'd toss him woodchips from the playground, or handfuls of grass. At the beach he'd catch sand, or water droplets. This photo shows him catching water in the Rio Grande, near Taos, NM (a bit more scenic than Lake Michigan).
The "Growly Game". Lots of people (especially men) loved playing the Growly Game with Muddy. It didn't matter what he had - a toy, bone, stick, or nothing at all - if you pointed at him and said "what have you got, Muddy?", he would defend it ferociously. He looked and sounded very scary, baring his teeth and snarling loudly, but it was just a game. Muddy was completely gentle, and in fact, not in the least possessive, and you could take anything away from him as long as he understood the game was over. Other dogs seemed to know this too, and stole toys from him all the time.
Pumpkin Loaf. The best object for the Growly Game was Starbucks pumpkin loaf (I suppose I should have put this on the Treats and Snacks page). We discovered how much he loved it one day when Marc had a leftover piece that had gone stale.
He offered it to Muddy, brown paper bag and all, and that day, Muddy's famous pumpkin loaf game was born. I would never have thought a dog capable of dissembling, but Muddy did. Marc offered Muddy the package, and Muddy turned his face away, with a look that said "get that disgusting thing out of my face". So Marc said "OK, I guess you don't want it", and tossed it away on the ground. Muddy immediately dashed over to it, growling as he ran, pounced on it and strutted off with it, still growling. Marc chased him around for a while, then Muddy took his prize off to a quiet corner to eat it. Muddy was very skilled at unwrapping gifts, and he knew how to tackle the Starbucks bag too. He neatly tore off little strips of paper until he got to the treat inside, and absolutely relished eating it. Pumpkin Loaf Day became a weekly event, with the same "I don't want it" charade played out every time. Willie and Tarka continue to celebrate Pumpkin Loaf Day, but they are much more food-motivated than Muddy, and all they want to do is eat it.
Anyway, this is a long-winded way of introducing some of Willie and Tarka's favorite toys! We just have a couple, initially, but will be adding more in due course.
TOYS. Neither Willie nor Tarka seemed to understand toys when they first came to us. But Muddy taught Willie, and Willie in turn taught Tarka, that toys are fun! Both Willie and Tarka love anything that squeaks or grunts. Willie chews them (and shreds stuffed toys to get to the squeaker inside), while Tarka just seems to love taking them out of the toy box and carrying them around the house. We've watched him digging in the toy box with both front paws to find out what's at the bottom of the pile. He'll also bring a toy to Willie to play tug-o'-war; Willie has the obvious weight advantage, and swings Tarka around as he shakes his head, but Tarka hangs on tight and sometimes wins through sheer tenacity. We'll be adding some of their best soft toys later, but the toys below are the ones that they most like to play with outside. 
RUFFIANS. JW Pet makes some wonderful rubber toys called Ruffians. There are a number of different animals, in different sizes, but the Octopus has been voted the most popular toy in our local park by nine out of ten dogs.
It's a great fetch toy with lots of bounce; it squeaks loudly, and it's made of good, sturdy chewing material. Not sturdy enough for Willie, who chews the head off an Octopus with about 10 minutes of chomping, but even without the head, all the dogs love this toy. We humans like them because you can find them in the snow! Pictured below are Tarka, Willie, and their good friend, Ava, all playing with Ruffians. Ava is more elegant, and her specialty is fitting two toys in her mouth at once.
OR ON THE IMAGE ABOVE.
KONG AIR DOG SQUEAKERS. As the name suggests, these tennis ball-like toys all squeak, and are softer than tennis balls. They're also very popular with Willie and Tarka, and their friends in the park. Even though the squeakers don't last long, they can still hear the air whooshing out of them as they bite down on the toys. To a dog's sensitive hearing, that's probably as good as a squeak. Willie likes to peel them too.
These are best played with when there's no snow on the ground. The snow tends to stick to them and they're very hard to spot. It's all the same to Willie!
They come in various different shapes - round, oval, bone, bowling-pin and more. For now we're carrying them in three-packs of the standard tennis ball size.
PLANET DOG TOYS. We love Planet Dog products. They're bouncy, chewable and fun, and we love the company's approach to creating eco-friendly, recyclable products. Through the Planet Dog Foundation, the company donates 2% of every purchase to programs throughout the country that train, place and support dogs who help people in need. These dogs visit sick children in the hospital and the elderly at rehab facilities. They alert a deaf person when someone is at the door and help a visually impaired person cross the street safely. They locate hikers lost in the mountains and endangered species in threatened habitats. They help avert life threatening seizures for diabetics & epileptics, and open emotional & physical doors, allowing people with disabilities greater independence. They provide emotional therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans of armed conflicts and become service dogs for those soldiers with combat-related injuries. Purchasing Planet Dog products is a wonderful way to support these working dogs.
We've picked three of our favorite balls: first, on the left, the Old Souls orbee-tuff orbee. For the more worldly canines among us, this globe ball is specifically designed for senior dogs who still like a good, gummy chew. The colors of Old Soul Orbees are high-contrast to make seeing them easier, for those with limited sight; Willie is completely blind, but the strong mint smell of the ball lets him know where it is and which dog in the park has stolen it!
Second, the orbee-tuff adopt ball is a great way to deliver a pro-adoption message ("rescue - raise - love"); the message on the back says "Sit for treats. Stand for adoption". This is a super-bouncy, tough ball rated "five out of five chompers" for aggressive chewers.
And third, since we are a Samoyed-run organization, we have to have snowballs year round. In the summer, Planet Dog's orbee-tuff snowball is the perfect solution.
All these balls smell (and probably taste - I can't vouch for that personally) deliciously minty, and they all have two holes in them which means the balls make a dog-exciting whistling sound when thrown. It also means there's no danger of tongue injuries due to vacuum suction.
HARD BOILED SOFTIES. Here's another great park-tested toy. This one's a shark, and Tarka's laughing at it in the photo below right.
There are several other animals besides the shark. We also had a sheep, which we foolishly took to the park. All the dogs wanted to play with it, even after Willie tore the sheep cover off it. Underneath the sheep's clothing, there is not a wolf, but an egg (photo at the bottom of this section). It's still a perfectly good toy without the cover.
It makes a loud grunting noise that dogs love, bounces crazily due to the egg shape, and is a good chewing texture as well.
Our friend Bogart in Taos also loves these toys - he's very destructive but they last him for months, and so far he hasn't lost one out in the sagebrush. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of him playing with the toy, but, on the right, here is the handsome boy perched on a rock above the Rio Grande gorge.
CLICK ON THE EGG TO ORDER A HARD BOILED SOFTIE.
PLANET DOG TOYS. We love Planet Dog products. They're bouncy, chewable and fun, and we love the company's approach to creating eco-friendly, recyclable products. Through the Planet Dog Foundation, the company donates 2% of every purchase to programs throughout the country that train, place and support dogs who help people in need. These dogs visit sick children in the hospital and the elderly at rehab facilities. They alert a deaf person when someone is at the door and help a visually impaired person cross the street safely. They locate hikers lost in the mountains and endangered species in threatened habitats. They help avert life threatening seizures for diabetics & epileptics, and open emotional & physical doors, allowing people with disabilities greater independence. They provide emotional therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans of armed conflicts and become service dogs for those soldiers with combat-related injuries. Purchasing Planet Dog products is a wonderful way to support these working dogs.
We've picked three of our favorite balls: first, on the left, the Old Souls orbee-tuff orbee. For the more worldly canines among us, this globe ball is specifically designed for senior dogs who still like a good, gummy chew. The colors of Old Soul Orbees are high-contrast to make seeing them easier, for those with limited sight; Willie is completely blind, but the strong mint smell of the ball lets him know where it is and which dog in the park has stolen it! Second, the orbee-tuff adopt ball is a great way to deliver a pro-adoption message ("rescue - raise - love"); the message on the back says "Sit for treats. Stand for adoption". This is a super-bouncy, tough ball rated "five out of five chompers" for aggressive chewers.
And third, since we are a Samoyed-run organization, we have to have snowballs year round. In the summer, Planet Dog's orbee-tuff snowball is the perfect solution.
All these balls smell (and probably taste - I can't vouch for that personally) deliciously minty, and they all have two holes in them which means the balls make a dog-exciting whistling sound when thrown. It also means there's no danger of tongue injuries due to vacuum suction.
HARD BOILED SOFTIES. Here's another great park-tested toy. This one's a shark, and Tarka's laughing at it in the photo below right.There are several other animals besides the shark. We also had a sheep, which we foolishly took to the park. All the dogs wanted to play with it, even after Willie tore the sheep cover off it. Underneath the sheep's clothing, there is not a wolf, but an egg (photo at the bottom of this section). It's still a perfectly good toy without the cover.
It makes a loud grunting noise that dogs love, bounces crazily due to the egg shape, and is a good chewing texture as well.
Our friend Bogart in Taos also loves these toys - he's very destructive but they last him for months, and so far he hasn't lost one out in the sagebrush. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of him playing with the toy, but, on the right, here is the handsome boy perched on a rock above the Rio Grande gorge.
CLICK ON THE EGG TO ORDER A HARD BOILED SOFTIE.
REAL ANIMAL SQUEAKER MATS. Another big favorite, these toys are animals in the form of big "mats" with 12 squeakers in the body of the animal, and a "grunter" in the tail. This means that even if a squeaker or two wears out, you still have an enticing toy for your dog to play with. Tarka adores these toys and carries them around the house and yard every day. It's quite funny to watch him trying to get them up and down stairs as they are as tall as he is, so he has to step sideways. Willie loves the noise they make and when he hears Tarka playing with them, will invariably get up fro
m a deep sleep and come over for a tug of war. These toys put up with a lot of abuse, though we do have one headless fox. But Tarka still plays with the head, even though it's been detached from the body. Kyjen, who makes these wonderful toys, says "Toys that mimic the natural colors and textures of animal fur like our Real Animal Squeaker Mats tap into the instinctual drives that help keep dogs healthy and engaged". We think they're right! The skunk and raccoon are the most realistic and I occasionally get startled when I see one lying in the grass.
We also like the Kyjen Bottle Buddies. They're a plush toy with a recycled plastic water bottle inside, so they make a great crunchy noise when you play with them.
m a deep sleep and come over for a tug of war. These toys put up with a lot of abuse, though we do have one headless fox. But Tarka still plays with the head, even though it's been detached from the body. Kyjen, who makes these wonderful toys, says "Toys that mimic the natural colors and textures of animal fur like our Real Animal Squeaker Mats tap into the instinctual drives that help keep dogs healthy and engaged". We think they're right! The skunk and raccoon are the most realistic and I occasionally get startled when I see one lying in the grass. We also like the Kyjen Bottle Buddies. They're a plush toy with a recycled plastic water bottle inside, so they make a great crunchy noise when you play with them.
