Does Your Dog Prefer Your Kids' Toys? Charlie Does!

Charlie the Beagle became famous when his owners caught some cute behaviour on camera and posted it to YouTube, where it quickly went viral, with (currently) over 11 million views. 

The video starts with Charlie entertaining baby Laura with one of her toys. Things go slightly awry when Charlie decides he’d like Laura’s toy all to himself and wanders off with it. Laura cries, whereupon apologetic Charlie showers gift after gift on the baby to make amends!

Charlie and Laura undeniably overload our senses with cuteness, but as we watched the video, we did actually find ourselves thinking, “I hope they’re going to wash those toys!”

Which got us thinking, is it really such a good idea to let your dog play with your kids’ toys?

Germs!

Our dogs’ mouths are less than sanitary quite frankly. Studies show that bacteria found in dogs’ mouths can potentially be transferred to humans, including toxocara, salmonella and giardia, not to mention little nasties like hookworm and tapeworm. And as anyone with young children knows, the first thing they’ll do with a toy is pop it straight into their mouths. Dog drool, diseases and worms...toys with extras, indeed. 

Hmm, perhaps we’ll keep the kids toys away from the dog..?

There’s another reason why your children’s toys should be a no-go zone for your pet.

Hands off, that’s mine!

Most dogs have a marvellous understanding that children need to be treated differently, with gentleness and extra patience. That's just as well, because toddlers have a scary tendency to snatch things straight from a dog’s mouth without a thought. If you've ever witnessed this yourself, you'll recognise that slightly sick, faint feeling you get when you think how that could have ended..

We’d all like to think that our own dogs are completely trustworthy, but there’s no disputing the fact that not all dogs will react to this kind of treatment with impunity. And if a dog and a child each get territorial over a toy they regard as their own, who knows what the outcome might be?

Perhaps it’s best for your child’s toys and your dog’s toys to stay firmly in the care of their respective owners to minimise any risk of resentment or conflict?

If all this makes us sound like real kill-joys, you couldn’t be further from the truth. There are hundreds of toys designed especially for dogs. Toys that withstand dog slobber, chewing, tugging, throwing and dragging through the mud. Toys that make playtime with your dog fun, stimulating and safe.

Agility World stocks several brands of dog toys. Tug-E-Nuff toys are highly sought-after at the moment. They’re great because many of them are on a bungee handle, so when you’ve got a dog with a huge tug, the jarring on your joints (and their jaws) is minimised. Tug Eeze makes some fun throwing and tugging toys too, and who hasn’t owned a Kong dog toy at one time or another?

Chuckit toys fly, float, glow in the dark and are generally fantastic for outdoor play and fun training sessions, while West Paw Design makes tough, interactive toys that guarantee to go the distance.

With so many great dog toys available these days, the only problem is choosing which ones to buy! We think Charlie and Laura have got a great relationship and we hope they have lots of fun playing together as they grow older.

Does your dog love to play with your kids’ toys?