“We’d love to give our dog soft toys but she destroys them each time.”
Our answer to this commonly heard complaint is simply to let your dog destroy their toys. Some dogs play with their toys “nicely” – chew on them and toss them around and that’s great. And it’s also fine for a dog to gut, shake, and basically destroy their plush toys. That too is solid satisfaction and natural behavior for a dog. Destroying toys is as much a positive outlet as simply playing with toys so let them.
Concerned about cost and waste? Understandable. I am too, and that’s why I save leftover fabric and stuffing, and take these to our local alterations shop for mending. Sometimes I’ll add new squeakers, which you can find in stores. That’s just one way of minimizing cost, along with garage sales, online sales, toy swaps, and so on.
There’s also the concern of swallowing bits of the plush toy, also understandable. Supervise supervise and trade your dog with a high-value treat if you find that they’re not just destroying their soft toy but consuming the thing as well.
Bottom line, let’s let our dogs destroy their toys, find ways of minimizing waste, and carefully supervise.