When our Twiggy was a puppy, we bought her a long, stuffy-free thing we called 'Weasel'. I have since met the same thing called fox, giraffe and mouse. She loved Weasel, it was her go-to. The neighbour Scouty has a giraffe, and he takes it to bed every night.
Twiggy is now going on 15.
Twiggy's weasel lasted until she was about 13, when we started dog sitting. To be fair, it was pretty ragged by then, but it took just one puppy to eat out the squeaker and shed it to pieces. That is the longest lived toy yet.
I recently bought a few new toys, we have a good selection of dogs of all ages, and they all still seem to love the toys. When dogs arrive, they head right to the toy basket, where they paw through the box to find just the right one.
Unfortunately, of the seemingly TOUGH-looking toys I bought, one, a duck made of rope and canvas only lasted 10 minutes with our favourite puppy guest, who happily ate open the seams and pulled out the stuffing in the body and head. The other new toys also look like we've had them for years after only one week of doggie play. I wonder why they cannot make dog toys that will last!
Our very favourite toy of all though, was one we called "Rat-Rat'. Our daughters dog, Nugget, a Rat-Terrier/Chautauqua cross LOVED Rat-Rat. It was a hunk of solid plastic, shaped like a rat that glowed in the dark! Sure the ears, toes and tail were gone within a few days, but that hunk of plastic was so loved. And Nugget was so smart, you could ask her to go find Rat-Rat, or ball-ball, or weasel and she could pick it out of the toy box for you.
The best dog toy story we have though, doesn't really involve a dog. My father-in-law, playing with the dogs one day actually threw it full-strength for for Nugget and absolutely nailed my mother-in-law in the middle of the forehead. Still one of our favourite family stories.
I am still searching for a replacement for Rat-Rat, let me know if you see a glow-in-the-dark rat on any of your travels.