Puppy Engages in a Fuzzy Fiasco By Destroying All The Toys, Owner Woofs Their Worries On Reddit, Receiving Wholesome Words Of Wisdom

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Feb 29, 2024 10:00 PM EST

Hold up, a doggo dispute? Woof, this is going to be tough. What is a hooman to do when their doggos don't get along because one of them (ahem, ahem, it's always the younger one) destroys all of their toys? It's a difficult question to answer, but for seasoned owners, it may be a little bit easier to find a solution. One hooman took to r/dogs, seeking advice from fellow dog owners who have been through it all. Luckily the crowd had more than a few answers to give, and some Redditors took their time in advising the original poster. It was quite heartwarming to read, so scroll down and check it out for yourself. Then when you are done, check out this homeowner who argued with their cat to no avail after the cat repeatedly threw down some plants from a shelf in their new home. The cat obviously won the dispute.

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  • 01
    One of my dogs loves stuffed animals and treats them like his babies, my other dog loves to destroy them. What do?
    via u/BoasArt
  • 02
    My older dog (5) has always loved stuffed animals. He has never been destructive of them and has always treated them as if they were his friends. He carries them around with pride and snuggles them. Sometimes he just likes to hold them and fall asleep with them in his mouth, almost like a binky. We brought home a second puppy a few months ago. He's 5 months old now, and these past couple weeks has really gotten into destroying all of these toys that my other dog loves so
    via u/BoasArt
  • 03
    much. Usually I wouldn't care, I mean, they're dog toys after all. But my older dog seems to get very upset when we have to put one away or throw it out. I'm just not sure what to do. Is there a way to teach my puppy not to destroy them? I've had destructive dogs before but this is the first time we've had a destructive dog and a non destructive dog together in the same house. My older dog hates hard toys, and my puppy rips up the soft ones. Help.
    via u/BoasArt
  • 04
    BoasArt OP 1 day ago I will add that my older dog is a king shepherd and incredibly smart. He knows all of his stuffed animals by name and will go find whatever one you ask him to. He is EXTREMELY attached. 269 Reply Share Sparrow LikeBird 1 day ago you may be able to train him to put his toys in a specific place, like a bin that is high enough the pup can't access it
    via u/BoasArt, u/SparrowLikeBird
  • 05
    Long_Run6500 - 15 hr. ago I had a German Shepherd like that as well. He destroyed some but any of the ones that I got him during I guess what you would call memorable times of his life he cherished like babies. His favorite was a kong fox. I got him that after I went on vacation for a week and took him to a kennel. I actually came home early because the shelter said he hadn't ate and barely drank water. Refused to leave his bed and only would interact
    via u/Long_Run6500
  • 06
    with the person I handed his leash to, everyone else he'd growl at. I felt so awful that I bought him that toy and took him for a swim which he loved normally but he refused to leave the car because he just wanted to go home. There were 4 or 5 other stories I could tell linked to toys, usually just upgrades in our living situation not really traumatic like that. But then I got the pup and I was very protective of those toys at first, but soon I realized he was being careless with them. After a w
    via u/Long_Run6500
  • 07
    his fox. He was careful with that one. After a while I just decided they were more sentimental to me than him but they're his and he can give them to her if he wants. It was almost like he was saying he doesn't need them anymore because he has her. Then one day he gave her his fox. Broke my heart to see her tearing it up. I found a replacement and gave it to him and he was so excited, but the first thing he did was play tug with her. Then about a week later I took him to the vet and found out he
    via u/Long_Run6500
  • 08
    I guess my point is they're more than capable of keeping the toys safe if they want to. Of course the other dog will be crafty and if you see it chewing on one of the toys your Shepherd is obviously trying to keep away from it stop it, but maybe the Shepherd doesn't feel like it wants to watch over the toys with the new addition to the pack. Reply Share 59
    via u/Long_Run6500
  • 09
    BoasArt OP 14 hr. ago Thank you. Part of me was wondering if maybe I was just being too sentimental about it. Whenever we come in the door, my dog likes to pick one of his favourite toys to come show us and we would always bet on which one he would bring. Quite a few of them have sentimental origins as well.Maybe it's in my head. Reply Share 15
    via u/BoasArt
  • 10
    Latii_LT 1 day ago Put toys up when dogs are together or pup is out. Separate dogs with a barrier when toys are out for the older dog to indulge in and only give toys to pup supervised. You can also give pup toys made to destroy/chew up as well like snuffle ball, lotus ball, prey dummy, hide and seek toy wheee there are little stuffies tucked into holes of a larger toy. Reply Share 97
    via u/Latii_LT
  • 11
    Seruati - 1 day ago Noofoundland You can train them to know whose toys are whose. I have some stuffed animals that are mine and my dog knows they are not hers to play with. You can train the puppy to know that the older dogs 'friends' are off limits. Be patient with him though, he's only five months. He will get there. 81 Reply Share
    via u/Seruati
  • 12
    marie6045 23 hr. ago My daughter gave our puppy her stuffed penguin when she arrived. Pup has disemboweled every toy we bought for her but that penguin is still unharmed. They definitely know the difference between toys. 54 Reply Share
    via u/marie6045
  • 13
    Saves Nine9 1 day ago name: breed If your dogs have crates, the older dog could keep his stuffies in his. We have a toy oriented dog who brings his treasures to his crate for safekeeping. Reply Share 32 iwasfeelingallfloopy - 11 hr. ago My 4 year old does this with his beloved squeaky eggs, he's always got a little collection of them in his bed. Just got a puppy and he's started doing it too. It's very sweet.
    via u/SavesNine9, u/iwasfeelingallfloopy
  • 14
    CoolRanchBaby - 21 hr. ago My dog slowly (over weeks) rips each appendage off all their stuffed toys. He then loves and snuggles his armless, legless, tailless stuffies for years. Oh if it has a squeaker he rips out those too. If he starts to nose or look at my daughters stuffed animals we say “not yours, get your own toy” and he does. He maybe didn't listen as well when he was younger, and he still tries his luck (starts sniffing and making tentative moves for my daughters toys sometimes) but o
    via u/CoolRanchBaby
  • 15
    . raccoongutz 1 day ago it's absolutely anecdotal, but when my sister's dog was young and living with us, we had a similar issue. to some extent, even mine. one of our parents dogs loved stuffed toys. not to the extent of carrying them around, but there were some that she was very defensive over. when both the others were puppies, they would rip up and shred other stuffed animals - i can't tell you how many we had to throw away.
    via u/raccoongutz
  • 16
    but they never touched the ones that were very dear to the older dog, almost as if they knew which ones were off limits. maybe supervising their playtime together with softer toys and seeing if the younger dog knows about a few special ones that aren't to be touched would at least let you know which ones can and can't be left out? 18 Reply Share
    via u/raccoongutz
  • 17
    BoasArt OP 15 hr. ago The problem is my older dog does not seem to be very dominant when it comes to establishing boundaries. My puppy will de s go rip a stuffy out of his mouth and my older dog just looks at me and whines. I almost wish he was a little bit more defensive so my puppy would learn those boundaries, but he's just too much of a gentle giant. Reply Share 13
    via u/BoasArt
  • 18
    Cursethewind - 15 hr. ago Champion Mika (shiba Inu) & Cornbread (Oppsiedoodle) Disallow the puppy from doing it and remove the puppy. Your adult dog is acting appropriately. 10 Reply Share
    via u/Cursethewind
  • 19
    BoasArt OP 15 hr. ago Oh I know, we try. My puppy is a golden retriever and has no sense of personal space. We're working on it though. I'm just more so trying to figure out how to comfort my older dog and let him have his toys right now. Puppy is being trained to be a service dog for my mom so he has to stay around, we will not be rehoming him or anything. He's a total sweetheart aside from everything else, he's just being a puppy.
    via u/BoasArt
  • 20
    tashien - 17 hr. ago Oog. We have a high prey drive lab hound mix. Teaching her not to destroy her stuffies has been a journey. She destroyed a dang Kong! Chewed that sucker right into pieces. Sent pics to the makers of Kong toys with the caption " not mad and don't want a replacement, just thought y'all would get a kick out of the fact our 1 year old chewed up the Kong". After that, I went back to my dad's methods for training hunting dogs to have what they call soft mouths. Teaching them to no
    via u/tashien
  • 21
    saying "gentle gentle". At the first sign she was biting down too hard, I'd say "no, gentle" and take it away but give her a toy she could chew on as hard and rough as she wanted. Thing was, any new stuffie got her so excited she just couldn't contain herself. So, she'd get it for a moment, then get the chewing toy to work through her excitement, then she'd have the opportunity to try the stuffie again. It's a lot of work. She's 7 now. She occasionally still destroys a stuffie but for the most p
    via u/tashien
  • 22
    destructive, say "no, gentle. Here, you can chew this" and redirect them to the chewing toy. Always say "gentle gentle" or " gently" when giving them the stuffie. Puppies are all excitement and no brains for a bit. You have to work hard on keeping their attention for training. But if you are consistent, it gets easier. Currently, I have a Kong bear to repair sitting on my desk. She looks at it and whines. I'm waiting for replacement stuffing to arrive. I tell her no she wasn't gentle, go get her
    via u/tashien
  • 23
    time. So did our husky, but he will go suckle on his stuffie like a pup nursing. I don't and won't try to break him of that; it's a sign he was taken away from his mom too soon and it left him with tr na, plus he was neglected and abused by previous owners before we got him. By contrast, I have Teddy Bears my dad got me while I was hospitalized long term. I used them as neck pillows. Our female dog can often be found on my bed, those teddy bears wrapped up in her paws, snuggled up under her on m
    via u/tashien
  • 24
    gentle. Depending on the dog, it could take days, weeks, years or never to get them to stop destroying the stuffed toy. And he could turn out to be a dog that can destroy a Kong. Tala would have been a rockstar hunter. The hound breed she's mixed with was bred to run down black bears and deer. I don't hunt anymore; too sick and old. But she would have been glorious to run the trails with. I don't mind having to work with her so extensively. 7 Reply Share
    via u/tashien
  • 25
    BoasArt OP 15 hr. ago Thank you so much, this is fantastic advice. The puppy is a golden retriever so definitely has to do with his breed, but it's really good to know they can be trained out of it! I've only ever had shepherds my whole life, he's our first hunting/retrieving breed dog. 2 Reply Share
    via u/BoasArt

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