As I walked into Petsmart today, I was overwhelmed by the current toy sale. Buy 2 get one free. Having worked retail for many years, I know that it is likely not the best deal available. But, something in my mind said that buying toys for the puppies is always a good idea, having there be a sale just makes it cheaper (hopefully).
This is the total of new toys I currently have for Penny and Lucy. Only three of which were purchased today, the remaining were purchased a few trips ago but have yet to be released into the toy rotation. The most toys my dogs have had at one time was 30 (with an error margin or 2), not counting tennis balls. Actual tennis balls, the fake ones never last against Penny’s biting abilities.
The Inventory is:
Large Red Kong Crackle Squeezz Bone
Toy Shoppe Durables Red Fire Hose Toy
Toy Shoppe Durables Purple Dinosaur Toy
Martha Stewart Gentle Play Raccoon
Marth Stewart Fitness and Fetch Tennis Toy
Nylabone for Powerful Chewers Thing (?)
We’ve gone through a lot of toys in the seven months since we brought Lucy home. Penny was never really interested in toys, but once she had competition to play with the toys her interest grew and so did the rate of toy deaths at our home. Since, I have had the pleasure of tossing out many a destroyed toy, I can basically tell which toys are going to make it and which toys aren’t. As such, I want to make a prediction about the toys and then see which ones live the longest!
Large Red Kong Crackle Squeezz Bone: we currently have a Kong Crackle Stick and it is holding up okay. However, if Penny decides to chew on it, I don’t think it will last an afternoon. Therefore, I predict we’ll have this one around 3 months. It takes some time for Penny to want to take it from Lucy.
Toy Shoppe Durables Red Fire Hose Toy: I have been wanting to buy this one for a while, I always liked that it said it’s made of real fire hose! However, I do not think it will last more than a month. The material seems like it would fray and therefore expose its guts pretty quickly.
Toy Shoppe Durables Purple Dinosaur Toy: I have had many dinosaurs and dragons, and I’ve seen all but one go the way of the trash can. If it’s lucky and does not get its feet or stomach eaten (they appear to be made of different material), it might last a month. We do have one dragon toy that has been hanging on since Christmas but I think that is because it gets left outside frequently. The really powerful chewing sessions always happen in the house!.
Martha Stewart Gentle Play Raccoon: I think this one will last the longest. We have a similar 
raccoon to this one that we purchased last August and it is still intact.
Here is a picture of the current raccoon toy, I found it under a desk. Likely put there to save for later chewing.
Martha Stewart Fitness and Fetch Tennis Toy: This toy is cute and I wanted to buy it. It won’t last a day.
Nylabone for Powerful Chewers Thing (?): This toy will last at least three months if only Lucy chews on it but one week if Penny chews on it. I’m going with the one week as Nylabone toys are something that Penny can really get into until we take it away (she is strong enough to actually damage them and will work hard at it).
Here is a lovely picture of Penny ignoring Olaf. Trust me, she isn’t sleeping just waiting until I make the toy and the camera go away. This Olaf was a “dog toy” that was being sold at Petsmart. Lucy tore off Olaf’s arm and ate his nose. He was not very durable and is no longer with us.
I’ll give an update on all of the new toys when their fates are certain! =)
Penny and Lucy 