Playing nicely with toys
One afternoon, years ago before SitStay started, Kent and I took our Kari shopping for toys. It was a quiet lazy Sunday. We strolled leisurely through the aisles tilting our heads and smiling at each other. We couldn’t believe our good fortune. This darling seven year old Golden Retriever had come to us just days before and was acting like a perfect angel. Just about the time we thought we’d died and gone to Heaven, it happened! It happened so fast we couldn’t react in time. Kari’s body stiffened, her nose pointed into a shelf, and she lunged. She grabbed a mouse made of rabbit fur. “Ack! Kari, no!” We both grabbed for the mouse but it was too late, she already had it in her mouth. “Kari, give that back!” She would not. She clenched the mouse as tightly as she could in her back teeth, tail down her throat, and she was not going to let it go. I remembered from my younger days how to get a horse to open its mouth. Put your finger in the side of the mouth behind the back teeth, and push. I pushed, Kari opened her mouth, and the toy dropped out. By this time we had an audience, a soaking wet toy mouse, and ribs that hurt from laughing. It’s one of our favorite stories about her. Kari standing there stubborn with her teeth clenched and a toy mouse in her mouth. When it was all over, Kari was okay but the toy mouse was not as fortunate. It was a good lesson to learn for $1.29. From that point forward, all our dogs would learn how to play with toys.
Dogs can be trained to play nicely with toys. It makes play safer for the dogs and it’s more fun for us too, because we can give our dogs 
any toy we like. I’ve yet to meet a dog who couldn’t be trained to play nicely with toys. And anybody can do it. Once the dog knows how to play, toys will last a normal toy life.
The most important rule I have in training is: Everything belongs to me. Whatever it is, it’s mine. When my dogs understand that everything is mine, training is easy. I like to use a leash so the dog can’t take off with the toy. Running off with a toy can be pretty funny sometimes but it doesn’t make for fast training. Understanding happens a lot faster when I keep control of how far the dog can go and of the toy.
The goal is for the dog to understand that gentle teeth get the toy. I don’t talk when I first start the training game. Actions really do speak louder than words. I offer the toy quietly. If she grabs for it, I’m fast and take the toy back quickly before the teeth touch it. Hold toy to chest with a hand over it for three heart beats, looking away from the dog. It’s my toy and she can’t play with me or my toy if she doesn’t take it from me easy and with a gentle mouth. I look at her again and when she’s calm I offer the toy again. If she takes it gently, I let her keep it for a few moments, praise quietly or treat or both. When I use treats, I like to toss them. She has to go get the treat, and returns to me to keep playing. When she starts playing nicely with the toy, I like to add another and use both toys. Offer one, dog takes it, toss the second, when dog goes to get the second toy, pick up the first one 
again and start over. Soon you’ll find her giving the toy back to you and running for the other toy. What a good game and a good way to teach fetch while you’re at it. It’s fun and it’s simple. You can add words to name the toys later. If the dog fails to use gentle teeth in the first three tries, put the toy up and go for a nice long brisk walk. Try again later when the excitement levels are reduced. Be patient and kind.
Do supervise toy play. I believe that once a dog is taught how to play with toys, any toy is okay for any dog as long as it’s too big to swallow. I do recommend tougher toys to start out with during training. Try it and let us know how it goes for you. After the dog is trained, it won’t matter whether you buy soft toys, tough toys, chew toys, or squeaker toys. They can play with all of them. After you teach your dog to play, teach them how to put their toys away.
