Hippo Hand Puppet

Price: ~$7.95

Purchased from: City Pets, Riverton
This toy has lasted: 2-3 months

Ahhh.. old faithful - the Hippo Hand Puppet.

I picked up this toy in a 'sale' bin in one of our local pet shops, thinking that it probably wouldn't last (it didn't) but it was only cheap so why the hell not.

Little did we know just how crazy Dougal would go over it. On first sight, as per usual he tried to jump up and grab it. Followed by a series of sharp barks, followed by a series of 'tricks' as he attempted to impress me in order to get the toy.

This toy is essentially a handpuppet, which is fairly well padded and contains a number of squeaks within the padding.

When he started to bite through the padding, it was time to put it away. So now it stays in the dog toy drawers and only comes out on special occasions.

Its the ultimate wrestling toy for our pup. Check out him playing with it on Youtube.

Dougal rates this toy:

Rubber dog frisbee

UPDATE: The rubber frisbee is now dead. It turned into a tug toy when Dougal was out playing with his girlfriend from up the road - Halley. So its time to replace it. BUT the frisbee did last 12 months +

Price: $8:95

Purchased from: Local pet store
This toy has lasted: 6 months+

This is probably 'THE' ultimate toy (or at least for our dog).

Ever since Dougal was old enough to visit the park and could be trusted enough to respond to his name - he's had a favourite toy. The one he adores above everything else (including Marrowbone treats, duck and CHICKEN).

And sure, your dog probably has a favourite too - but in most cases we find that Dougal tends to go through phases and plays with one toy for awhile, then switches, gets bored and moves on.

But this toy was probably one of the cheapest we've ever bought (around $8.95) and it has lasted the test of time. He STILL loves it. Actually I use the word loosely as he's pretty much obsessed by it :)

It's a blue rubber frisbee and is the one thing that our pup goes nuts over.


He will seriously chase it for HOURS if given half the chance.

On the upside, its the one toy that we can always take with us on walks and which we can use to get his full attention.

And as its rubber, he hasn't managed to chew through it, although admittedly we do hide it away when not in use. And he does like to play tug-o-war with it too at times... which only goes to show that its hard wearing and relatively long lasting.

Dougal rates this toy:

Cuddlies Rattle Snake

Price: $29.95

Purchased from: City Farmers, Belmont

It felt like it had been awhile since Dougal had received anything new to play with... and as our front room now seemed to be strewn with toys which have the stuffing pulled out of them, I figured why not try a new toy.

I've bought the Cuddlies range before, mainly the Ducks and Sting Ray and although they admittedly don't last all that long (mainly because the D monster likes to pull the stuffing from his plush toys), they are quite cute and very colourful.

They also have very cool 'voiceboxes' in them and aren't just the standard noisy squeak. This snake toy has both a rattle in the tail end, plus a rattle snake 'hiss' sound in the head.

Although Dougal was actually a bit scared of it at first.......and kept barking every time it hissed, he's now gotten used to it and its become the new tug toy. It's also kind of amusing to wrap the snake around his head (or around our necks) and walk around with it, pretending not to notice.

After 2 days he did pull some stuffing out, but the upside is that we tied a knot in the toy and it was pretty much fixed.

Check out his reaction (at first) on YouTube.

Dougal rates this toy:



UPDATE: It's 2 weeks later and the snake is now minus the rattle in its tail and minus the 'hiss' voicebox. Oh and the majority of the stuffing has also gone. So now its just turned into a tug toy instead.

Squeaky Present Toy

Again yet another great toy bought for Oscar by Jacqui.

Oscar loves this one, it is soft and squishy and makes just the best squeaky noise!!

He loves to play with this one in his paddle pool, or kick it around the house, or just sit there with it is his mouth and make it squeak!! He loves the feel of the toy, and he has not destroyed it.

Oscar gives this another great rating

Santa

Jacqui bought this toy for Oscar for Xmas. I think she bought it on her Melbourne trip

He loves it, this one he has not destroyed yet...

He carries it all around the house, and he want even drop it when he barks!!

Oscar rates this toy:

Rooster

I bought this toy for Oscar for Xmas from City Farmers

Oscar is not big on destroying toys but has had much pleasure is destroying this one!! And now it is missing one leg
It makes the sound of a rooster, and Oscar goes nuts when he hears it.

I bought the same toy for Dougal, and Dave commented on how it has gold pants on, so I nicknamed Oscar's toy Kylie.

Oscar rates this toy: