Safe toys for a Dogue de Bordeaux are essentials just like food and water are essentials. Your puppy must have an outlet for his natural chewing urges. But not just any toy will do. Oh no. Your Dogue de Bordeaux is a STRONG chewer, even at 4 months old. Assume that he is going to do all he can to rip the toy apart and swallow whatever pieces of it he can. Therefore, you must never give him items with swallowable parts that might be harmful. Your Dogue de Bordeaux will need toys available to him even as an adult. Not only while he is a puppy.
SOME NO-NOs
- Items with small or sharp metal parts such as pins, springs, or batteries – DUH!
- Toys with long strips or fibers, such as strings or thin ribbon. If your Dogue de Bordeaux swallows a string and the end is hanging out of its mouth and you go to pull it out, you could do serious damage to their throat! Nylon hose can be dangerous if swallowed. See What To Do If Your Dogue Swallows a Foreign Object.
- Cooked real bones of any kind. Cooked bones break into tiny, highly abrasive fragments that damage the digestive tract over time. They also splinter easily when being chewed on.
- Sheets of plastic film (e.g., garbage bags) can cause choking – again DUH!!
- Chewies made of large pieces or knots of rawhide. Swallowed pieces of these cause intestinal obstructions. Remember, Dogues de Bordeaux have HUGE mouths. A good rule of thumb, do not give your Dogue de Bordeaux anything smaller to play with than the size of TWO human fists.
- Thin, small squeaky-type rubber pet toys. Dogues who are vigorous chewers can swallow these toys whole, swallow large pieces of them, or swallow the squeakers inside.
- Soft toys with foam stuffing. If you do allow soft toys – check them often for rips and tears.
SOME OF THE BEST “OK TO CHEW” ITEMS
- Artificial bones made of hard nylon.
- Balls and chew toys made of hard rubber. Many of these are designed to hide bits of kibble in and can entertain your Dogue de Bordeaux pup for extended periods.
- Knots of thick rope.
- Large, RAW real bones. Raw bones do not splinter like cooked bones. Be sure to choose one large enough so that it cannot possibly be swallowed.
- Real antlers. Cow hooves. Dogues love ’em! You do need to keep an eye on the hooves though. Eventually your Dogue de Bordeaux will be able to whittle them down small enough to swallow.
***DISCLAIMER – The photos in this post are purchased stock images and are NOT my own personal Dogues***