What Dog Toys Are Not Allowed For Guide Dog Puppies?
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Before I opened up my Guide Dogs of America puppy manual I didn’t even know that guide dog puppies were not allowed to play with certain dog toys. It’s been more than 5 years since I first opened my puppy manual, but the dog toys on the “do not allow” list have been forever engrained in my head.
We recently received a brand new puppy manual which I might add is awesome and it too points out the guide dog banned toys.
So without further adieu lets get to that list of guide dog toys on the no-no list.
Dog Toys On The GDA “Do Not Allow” List
If you’re a guide dog puppy in training then just say no to these dog toys:
- Tennis Balls
- Frisbees
That’s it! I know the lists are a little bit different for other guide dog organizations, but at GDA the list is short. Why no tennis balls or frisbees for our guide dog puppies? The main reason is because we don’t want our puppies to get overly obsessed with these items as our pups will have to work around these distractions throughout training and his career.
I can attest to tennis ball obsession in dogs. Our family dog, Maffy had a crazy obsession for his tennis balls. He’s run into a bush and search for several minutes until he found the ball which recently led me to believe he would have made an excellent search and rescue dog.
Some of the other things that are not specifically considered dog toys that your guide dog puppy should avoid are old socks and shoes. Your guide dog puppy cannot differentiate between old shoes and new shoes and won’t understand why all shoes are not fair game. We recently ran into this problem with a pair of plush slippers.
Besides those basic rules we are told to make sure and use common sense and avoid toys that can cause choking hazards or that can be easily swallowed and cause your puppy to get sick.
Are there any dog toys you don’t allow to your dogs? If you’re a puppy raiser with another group: is there a list of toys you don’t allow to your dogs? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.
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