The rule of thumb is to ensure that toys are at least as big as your puppy/dog’s mouth to keep them from swallowing anything.
Dental Chew Toys
Dental chew toys are designed for teething puppies – 24 hours a day. The toys have different grooves on them and massage your puppy’s gums. They can be frozen and soothe your puppy’s gums — you throw them in your freezer. Teething toys should be made of a soft, malleable rubber that will not harm your teething puppy. Nylabones come in different shapes and a couple of flavours. Buy a few flavours to rotate them. A cheaper alternative will be rolling up damp washcloths and freezing them, which “helps reduce biting and chewing associated with teething.”
Squeaky Soft Toys
The intensified chewing phase usually ends by six months of age. Squeaky toys are good for gentle chewers after the teething stage (more than six months old). I only start giving Happy when she is six months old 😊 after her super-chewy phase. Happy loves to chew, and I cannot risk her eating the foam from a soft push toy and even swallow the squeaker. That said, you can still play with the puppy at the time you want to play, ie. Supervised playtime.
Interactive Toys
Treat dispensing toy is a great paw and eye coordination toy with an instant food reward. Your puppy may roll the toy around, and treats pop out as their reward to get treats out. KONG Puppy Goodie Bone features slots on the sides that are designed to fit the corresponding treats. It is always rewarding to see Happy “works hard for her food”.