Why can’t my Labs be normal? Wait! They are normal! Well, that is what other Labrador Retriever owners are telling me.
My girls have a very delicate palette and want only the best. Of course, that includes any type of string and fuzz from stuffed toys or tennis balls. When we go into a pet store to get the girls a new toy, the first thing we look at is the “fuzz” content. It doesn’t matter if it is a fleece toy or a normal tennis ball – if there is some sort of fuzzy covering, they will lay down in a comfortable spot on the floor and pull the fuzz off. Dakota doesn’t want to eat it – she just wants to “de-fuzz” the item. Cheyenne, on the other hand, will swallow anything! This includes the string from torn towels or rope toys.
Next, we look at the chew factor. Cheyenne is not as hard of a chewer but she is teething something awful these days. So, hours of chewing equals a great deal of the toy getting eaten by her. Dakota, again, will chew the pieces off, spit them to the side, and continue to chew more pieces off. Needless to say, the stuff she spits to the side, Cheyenne eagerly awaits to eat.
Is this normal? Yep! It is called the “Lab Toy Chew Factor”. From what we were told, the girls’ dame (mom) loved to pull the fuzz off anything. Oh why couldn’t they just be laid back like their sire (dad)? I really shouldn’t complain because they don’t eat anything in our house that we don’t give them. In Dakota’s life of 1-year, she has only torn apart her own bed (because I went away on business) and ate some tissues (because my husband wasn’t paying attention and I was on another business trip). Cheyenne has tried to get her mouth on things but crate training has been a house-saver! Now though, we have realized that even the most innocent of Kong toys is not safe from Cheyenne’s chewing as this week her Kong Puppy Teething stick was pulled apart little by little until we had no choice but to send it to that big garbage graveyard resting place!
Among those toys listed on the Internet for heavy chewers, the following was found:
If you have any toys for heavy chewers that you would like to add to this list, please let us know. Also, if you have any comments on the items listed – whether or not they worked for your dog or Labrador Retriever, we would love to get comments on that as well. This is a problem for many Lab owners and only through each person’s experience with such toys can we help each other in finding those toys that withstand such heavy chewers as Dakota and Cheyenne.
