Did you know that pets love their toys just like a human child? It’s true that a lot of pets, including dogs, can be attached to toys. If you have got a pampered pet in your home, then you will know how much they love their toys. And not just any toy. It must be that exact beaten-up ball, torn and tattered bunny with only one eye and an ear missing. You may wonder why they love toys. Read on to find out.
Pets get fixated on toys for the same reason we are. Like our favored childhood dollies, toys are special in our pets’ eyes. Toys keep them energetic. Animals, like humans, are designed to be active. A sedentary lifestyle is not good for anyone, including our pets. Toys keep them active and less boring.
Why Do Your Pets Love Toys?
Dogs and cats when left in their natural state, get to stalk, pounce, bite, catch, and wrestle. It gives them immense exercise and mental promptness. When they are kept as pets, they don’t have the same opportunity as in the wild. That’s where toys and pet playground come in play. Apart from these reasons, pets, especially dogs and cats, have a strange connection with toys. Like us, they have definite preferences for their playthings. We found three definite reasons why pets love toys.
Genetics play a key role in the pet’s behavior. Dogs like wolves are meant for hunting and carrying game. In the same way, dogs enjoy holding stuffed animal toys in their mouths because it’s a familiar thing to them. It’s their hunting genes. That’s why dogs love to play fetch. They rip the stuffed animal toy apart just like they would do in the wild with the hunted bird or animal. Just be careful getting close to your pet when your pet is trying to tear a toy. With smaller pets like rodents and guinea pigs, the danger is lesser, but they have their genes too. Instead of soft balls and bunnies, they need their little toy playground with tunnels and burrows.
Pets think of toys as their playmates. They create a bond with just one toy as they would with their siblings in the natural world. When two dogs are present in a home, they play with each other, and each becomes the other’s playmates. With a single pet at home, both dogs and cats have their one favorite toy as playmates.
Another reason why one toy is adored is, especially with female dogs and cats they care and play with just one toy as if they would care their pup or kitten.
Pets usually enjoy how that special toy makes them feel. They create a bond with that toy and associate that feeling with motherliness and playfulness.
Pets are quite intelligent. They love to make connections with their humans with their toys. Every time it plays with the toy, it creates a bond with the humans. They create special moments with their toys and give us some happy memories. That’s why whenever our pets try to play with us, they remember their toys.
Importance of Toys for Your Pets
Toys not only make your pets happy but it also keeps them healthy and energetic. For dogs, flying saucers can make a good toy to play fetch. Cats love crumbled newspapers. For smaller pets like rodents and guinea pigs, their toys can be toy playground, toy swings and wheels.
Here are four main reasons that show you the importance of toys for your pets.
1. To Keep Them Occupied
Pets hate boredom. So, to keep them occupied, try creating some toys and toy playground. For example, to keep a pet rodent occupied, make a rodent toy playground. Add a clean milk carton in which, cut a few entrances and exit holes. Glue a ladder of ice-cream sticks to it. Make a swing out of a cord and a curtain rod ring. A paper-towel tube makes an excellent tunnel, and an empty cereal box will keep your pet occupied for hours. Change the playground often so that your pet can have new activities.
2. To Make Them Healthy
In addition to keeping them occupied, pets need some exercise as well. Animal bodies are built for movements. For example, dogs and cats need to run, dig, and jump and pounce. Playing fetch is fun for both you and your pet. It gives your dog and cat plenty of exercise – and it helps keep you in shape, too. A good flying saucer can keep the dog healthy.
If you own a rodent, you should regularly provide new toys for your pet to sink its teeth into. Rodents need to gnaw to keep their teeth in shape. Gnawing materials can be a good toy for your pet. A nearly finished roll of toilet paper shreds into bedding.
3. To Keep Them Disciplined
Pets like cats and dogs can be wild if they are not disciplined. Play toys can help hone their hunting behavior. Toys teach your puppies and kittens how to interact with other dogs and felines.
Pet toys keep wild instinctive nature at bay. Providing your pets daily with toys will give a chance to discipline their instincts. They will learn to act on their instincts in the right way and develop social skills which will enable them to live amicably with other pets and humans.
4. To Keep Them Stress-free
Like humans, pets get stressed too. Pet toys help keep them stress-free. Play games like a ribbon wand or fetch, with your pet after coming from the groomer or from the vet. This will relieve the stress of the day.
Be smart with Toys
Be smart about dog toys. Provide a leather or nylon “bone” for chewing or tennis ball tied inside a sock. Do not give a dog toys it can chew apart and swallow.
For a feline pet, dangle a toy on a string and sway. Cats are extremely playful. Playing with your cat will usually make it respond to you better. Make a toy and allow it to dangle on a string. The cat will attack it as if the toy were a mouse. Cats love crumbled newspapers as toy to play fetch. Create a place for cats with curtains, so they can play hide and catch.
Rabbits enjoy batting things around. Provide a rubber ball, or seal pebbles in a can to make it rattle.
Be smart with bird toys. Look around your home. It’s full of good bird toys. Buttons, bells, and paper clips tied to twine are all bird toys. that’s dangling in the cage will keep a bird occupied for hours.
So, if your pet picks that same old stuffed toy to play with, enjoy, keep them happy!
