4 Surprisingly Durable Dog Toys That Might Actually Survive The Grip Of Your Destructive Pup

Toys both sturdy and photogenic enough for the destructive doggo in your life.

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Getting a dog is probably the best decision I’ve ever made. As a single, work-at-home freelancer, I can’t imagine what a dreary nightmare realm my apartment would be minus Monkey, the best rat terrier in the world, according to available rankings.

Mark Peters / BuzzFeed

Monkey is a pretty small dog — about 14 pounds — but he is hell on toys. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come home from the pet store with a little toy, thinking I’m a great pet-haver about to provide years of fun for my dog, when he then rips the damn thing to shreds within 10 minutes. I imagine it’s the feeling a dingo owner gets when their pet eats a baby in one gulp. Can’t anyone take their time anymore?

Anyway, my point is that Monkey may be small, but his teeth are sharp, and his genetics are that of a serial killer specializing in rats. So finding toys that last hours, days, weeks, or even years is a challenge.

Here, however, are a few sturdy specimens that have withstood his wrath:

This little elephant, which I definitely haven’t named Elphy.

Mark Peters / BuzzFeed

Elphy (damn!) is a relatively new toy, but he made it past that crucial first 15 minutes of play frenzy, and he’s been around for a couple of months by now. He’s absolutely adorable and sure to please dog people who like elephants, which we all should, because when I look up "noble beast" in my dictionary, I see a picture of an elephant.

Get it from Amazon for $13.19.

Monkey has an awesome Darth Vader toy, which has thus far been as impervious to damage as Vader’s armor — but his longest-running Star Wars toy is this plush Yoda.

Mark Peters / BuzzFeed, petco.com

That grizzled Muppet lived over 900 years, as the little grammar-challenged gugu claimed in The Empire Strikes Back, and death didn’t prevent him from showing up as one of those goofy force ghosts in The Last Jedi. So I expected a lot of longevity, and possibly some life coaching, from this toy. While Yoda hasn’t helped me move rocks or fight fascists much, he’s been a resilient wonder, surviving many murder attempts.

Yoda has been chewed, mauled, thrown, drooled on, and otherwise abused for I don’t know how many years. He’s gone with my dog on playdates to be wrestled over. He’s been waterboarded in the water dish. He’s been abandoned between sofa cushions for months. He’s seen some shit is what I’m saying. And he’s still hanging in there, entertaining my dog, and looking good in pics.

Get the Darth Vader toy from Petco for $7.49 and Yoda from Petco for $9.99.

Then there’s the best dog toy of all: This chicken toy — which my dog has had for at least two years — is a poultry-tastic joy.

Mark Peters / BuzzFeed

On a practical level, it’s big enough that you can wrestle it away from your dog without him accidentally treating your digits like chicken fingers. It’s big enough that my 14-pound pup looks hilarious carrying it around in his mouth. It makes for a perfect tug-of-war toy with my dog’s poker buddies. It’s durable, irresistible, perfect.

I mean, look at that chicken face. Can you resist? No, you can’t. Listen to the chicken. Buy the chicken. Give the chicken to your dog.

As sweet and affectionate as he is, Monkey’s family history tells me he’s to rats as Godzilla is to Tokyo, but more bitey. Finding a toy he doesn’t destroy in five minutes is tough. Finding a toy that looks fantastic in thousands of dog pics is also tough. This chicken — who I may have named Chicken — meets both qualifications. That's a damn good chicken.

Get it from Amazon for $11.10.

Annnnnd if you’ve got a pup with whom a stuffed dog toy is, under *no* circumstances, ever going to survive past the five-minute mark, there’s always the classic Kong toy — albeit not quite as cute as the options above.

amazon.com

Promising review: "I squeeze a good amount of the oatmeal, yogurt, and PB into each Kong, leaving a bit of space for a milk bone to stick out of the bigger hole on the end of the Kong. I put all five in the freezer and give my greyhound one each day. He gets SO excited when he sees a kong come out of the freezer, that he runs full speed into his kennel and waits for me. The Kong keeps him occupied for HOURS and because it's frozen, it lasts even longer and he spends forever licking and biting at the Kong to get the goodies out. Dogs need something to do with their mouths. They use their muzzles like we use our hands. A stuffed Kong can prevent so many behavioral issues like destructive chewing or excessive vocalization from boredom or anxiety. Also, Kongs are without a doubt the most durable toy on the market. They last ages and ages." —K. Kelley

Get it from Amazon for $3.72+ (available in sizes XS–XXL)

(Plus, plenty of dog subscription boxes, like Barkbox and the Dapper Dog Box, offer “power chewer” options as well. Read more about them here!)

Happy playtime, everyone!

20th Century Fox

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