How do they know what is a Dog Toy?

Not every dog knows, I am perpetually peeling Ru off my stuffed brontosaurus while reminding that I've supplied him with his own toys to hump. Still, Brisbane and Ulysses both appear to be able to accurately identify a random novel object as a Dog Toy.

I can bring home something they've never seen before, drop it on the kitchen floor, and if it's a toy somebody will pounce on it before long. Everything else gets ignored.

How do they know?

Elsie knows before it's out of the bag.

I have no idea how.

I think the manufacturer may scent them with something appealing. When my service dog was in training he didn't give a flip about any stuffed animals children's toy section. But if you walked him through the dog section he'd always want to smell the dog stuffies and would sometimes try to grab one on the sly.

Huh, I never thought about that before. :0 PROBABLY DO!



... my pups also know when I just come home with a bag. Somehow they know.

I think it's more likely they smell the squeaker. Children's toys rarely have squeakers, dog toys rarely don't.

Apparently Trent's dog toy sensor is broken. He never knows what's what - every stuffed toy is fair game and will be torn apart and gutted in moments, and anything else is not a toy unless I engage him in play with it. Unless he has zoomies, then everything is once again fair game (his favorite grab-and-go zoomie toy are random socks).

But to be fair, ever since he was a puppy his toys have been a blend of dog and people toys. We have a lot of people toys

I think it's the way the object is used, Merlin has NO IDEA what a dog toy is...but he NEVER forgets if I play with an object like one and it's a dog toy forever.

if I wave something around, anything, and toss it for him to fetch...forever and ever amen that thing is a dog toy.

Or it it comes in a barkbox :rofl1:

A lot of the time it's the squeakers. Kid toys do not have squeakers to destroy, so where's the fun in that? There's also the context in which the toy is used in. If your are waving it about and squeaking it and getting the dog all riled up, then they are bound to know that it is something fun that needs to be played with. It could also be that dogs have sixth sense: toy sensing!

I always joke that Fable is broken because she doesn't play with toys. I have never once met a dog that is so indifferent to toys, especially not an ACD!

I pretty much never buy toys with squeakers but god do they know when it's a dog toy. Even when I've never gotten something like that before! The first time I bought a bumper Traveler tried to take out of the box.

Even Kaylee when I bought her a coat, she was sitting and staring at me from the getgo as soon as I started opening the package. But when I get camera stuff or anything else they never even look!

I'm not really sure how they know... could be that the toys are scented, but Toby has all sorts of toys and not all of them are typical dog toys from a pet store. I think he just knows that if I gave it to him, it's his, and if I want it back, it's mine. - unless it's been his for a while.... then sometimes it's difficult to get back... LOL

Can't be the squeakers, as none of mine are squeak destroyers and they know even when it's a non-squeaking toy. Brisbane won't go for any random thing I swing around, but somehow he knows exactly what to do with an aqua Kong or a bumper.