Tip 16 - LIFESTYLE

Choosing the Right Pet Toy

There are two types of toys: interactive and solo. Interactive toys are used during playtime with your pet. Examples are a feather on a string for a cat, or a tug-of-war rope for a dog. Or a fetch-type toy or object. Solo toys keep your pet occupied without you, such as a chew toy or treat dispensing toy.

Never use a solo toy as an interactive toy. Interactive toys are associated with your presence or involvement. Solo toys are associated with independent play, without your participation. Offering an interactive toy to your dog as you're walking out the door sends a mixed and confusing message. "All right! Playtime, yeah! Hey, where do you think you're going? Oh no, this is not good. This is a big bowl of wrong." No wonder you come home to pillow guts and chewed slippers.Put the interactive toys away when you're gone and hide the solo toys during your playtime with your pet. That way your pet learns to be occupied when you're gone and, of course, ecstatic when you return.