Toys and Playtime

Mikey is just like a toddler. Seriously, my floor sometimes brings back many memories of toys scatters all over the place.
A big part of Mikey's routine will be play time. I am trying to figure out what works best at what times. So far here is what I have learned.

Rope: I know you must be aware of his love for the rope! He can shred that thing like it's nothing! Bad part is he swallows it. Take it from me, a trip to the Vets to get it out is not what you want! I use the rope to play with him, not to leave him with it alone. We play tug-a-war. This is a great interaction game if it is played right. Here is what I follow: We pull it back and forth all over the place, but stop the second it starts to get out of hand. By that I mean, he is starting to growl, moving his teeth farther and farther up the rope to your fingers or start of aggressive play. Always be the winner. You decide when to stop and tell him to "release" and take the rope back. I keep it on a shelf out of his chewing-eating ways!

Rubber Toys: He LOVES my rubber toys! I have a pic of his 2 favorites. The Blue spiked ball is good because you can toss it and it bounces in all different directions. This keeps in on his toes and can be done in a smaller safe place. He loves the rubber-rope-curly toy (the one he is laying on in the pic). We play that together or he swings it all around with his mouth by himself! So funny to watch. All these toys in the photo are pretty much self destructible. VERY Important for Mikey. He is a chewer, but most of that is his 'puppy' stage.

Bones: I am a huge fan of real bones. Cow femur bones to be exact. You can get them at most grocery stores, or ask your butcher. Mikey love's to chew on them for hours! This treat is given to him when I put him in his crate. It helps with separation anxiety, occupies him, cleans his teeth and freshens his breath. Bonus! One bone last about a month. After he chews it clean, I still use them as treats. (fill with peanut butter, freeze them). I take it out of crate when I let him out so he wont have access to it all day. Just for crate time.

He loves to play by himself. You are very lucky. He is so funny when he plays. He will go from one toy to another, all along talking to himself out loud! The noises he can make! I call all toys just "Toy's" and he is starting to recognize what that means. I keep all the toys in a basket. We put them away together, and through out the day I will say "Mikey, go get your toy" and ( some of the time) he will walk over to the basket and start pulling put toys! We will work more on that too! Having access to many toys he likes will help keep him occupied, keep him from chewing or playing with things he shouldn't. By the time he returns we will design the perfect toy basket for Mikey with all the things he loves!