12 best dog toys to banish boredom and entertain energetic pups
Finding the best dog toys for an active pup can be a bit of a lifesaver. When your dog is engaged with toys and games, they will be more relaxed, better behaved and healthier – not to mention less likely to chew up your clothes and furniture.
With many of us now returning to the office after months of working from home, our dogs may find themselves home alone for longer periods of time.
Although there are various gadgets that can help keep your pet occupied while you’re out of the house (and allow you to keep an eye on them), spending quality time with your dog by playing with toys when you are at home can make all the difference between a bored and destructive animal and a happy, calm pet.
There are thousands of toys on the market, but they can easily end up torn to shreds or totally ignored. The best toy will depend largely on the dog.
Very energetic pups will love toys they can chase or tug, while puppies will likely want to chew, and highly intelligent or easily bored dogs will benefit from fun, interactive toys. In our list we’ve included a full range that will keep your pet both physically and mentally fit.
How we tested
The only way to test just how good dog toys are is to let a whole load of pups loose on them. Each of the toys below has been chewed, chased, snuffled and wrestled by a range of dogs of all ages, breeds, sizes and activity levels, from a hyperactive hound to a playful cockapoo puppy and a destructive Labrador.
We judged the toys on how interested our dogs were, how long the dogs stayed entertained, and how durable the toys were when faced with sharp puppy teeth and non-stop gnawing.
The best dog toys for 2022 are:
Best overall – Beco recycled rough and tough crab: £11.99, Becopets.com
Best for fighting boredom – Kong classic dog toy: £8.50, Petsathome.com
Best for dental health – Nylabone stick strong chew toy: £14.26, Amazon.co.uk
Best puzzle toy – Nina Ottosson dog brick: £22, Argos.co.uk
Best puppy toy – Little Rascals knottie bunny: £5.99, Lordsandlabradors.co.uk
Best for active dogs – Chuckit sport ball launcher: £8.98, Amazon.co.uk
Best for mental stimulation – Outward Hound hide a squirrel puzzle: £14.44, Amazon.co.uk
Best for foragers – PetLove nuzzle puzzle ball: £6.99, Amazon.co.uk
Best luxe toy – Sophie Allport sheep rope dog toy: £12.50, Sophieallport.com
Best enrichment game – AllPetSolutions sunflower snuffle mat: £11.89, Allpetsolutions.co.uk
Best soft chew toy – Kong sea shells turtle: £8.99, Lordsandlabradors.co.uk
Best for building a bond – Nina Ottosson dog worker: £22.11, Amazon.co.uk
Beco recycled rough and tough crab
A durable plush toy is the holy grail of dog toys, and while we won’t say the stuffed animals from Beco are completely indestructible, they’re pretty close. Even our most determined chewers struggled to break through the hard-wearing double layers of cloth on these toys. We particularly like the Beco Crab as its rope legs mean that it’s also a fun toy for playing tug of war or fetch, and it’s a good size for even large dogs to play with. We also love the fact that all the Beco rough and tough soft toys are sustainably made using recycled cloth and stuffing.
Buy now £11.99, Becopets.com
Kong classic dog toy
The mighty Kong still reigns supreme when it comes to keeping energetic pups entertained. Although it’s evolved into various different forms such as activity sticks, stuffable bones and plush toys – and many other brands have created similar shaped interactive toys – the classic Kong is still our favourite. We are yet to find a dog that can damage these incredibly tough toys. Stuff your Kong with peanut butter (make sure the one you pick is xylitol-free) and treats to keep easily bored and treat-motivated dogs both mentally and physically active. To make it last even longer, you can pop a peanut-butter stuffed Kong in the freezer before giving it to your dog.
This Kong chew toy comes a medium (£8.50, petsathome.com), large (£12, petsathome.com) and X large (£16, petsathome.com) size to keep all dogs happy and filled with treats.
Buy now £8.50, Petsathome.com
Nylabone stick strong chew toy
This isn’t the toughest of Nylabone’s toys (check out the mighty monster bone power chew for a stick that even the strongest jaws will struggle to damage), but our dogs loved this wooden-effect toy. We’re not sure if it was the maple bacon taste or the wooden stick design that makes it easy to gnaw on, but this toy kept all our testers happy and occupied for far longer than other chew toys. Perhaps best of all, the textured pattern with ridges and grooves helps to clean the dog’s teeth while they’re gnawing away, so this toy is a good addition to your pet’s dental care routine.
This chew toy is available in a medium (£11.08, Amazon.co.uk) or extra-large size.
Buy now £14.26, Amazon.co.uk
Nina Ottosson dog brick
Interactive toys have become increasingly popular as owners have realised the importance of tiring dogs out mentally as well as physically, and Nina Ottosson is the name to know when it comes to canine puzzles. This dog brick is easily the most popular of her toys as it’s manageable for most dogs, while also encouraging them to use their brain.
Our dogs needed just a little guidance to use their noses to flip open the lids to find treats, and you can make the game a little easier while your pup gets the hang of it by removing some of the bones in the centre. As with all toys, make sure you supervise your dog while playing this game as scrambling paws can break the doors off the compartments (although we found it easy to snap them back on again).
Buy now £22.00, Argos.co.uk
Little Rascals knottie bunny
Puppies may love stuffed toys, but they often make light work of destroying them. This is why we love that the Little Rascals knottie bunny has a tough knotted centre that can withstand chewing, as well as a plush rabbit head and legs. It’s soft and cuddly to pop in your puppy’s bed with them, while also being a hardy chew toy and a good one to use for fetch. Admittedly, our dogs tore the stuffing out of this toy pretty quickly, but the twisted rope body of the bunny has held up well after several weeks of playing so it’s become a permanent fixture in their toy box.
Buy now £5.99, Lordsandlabradors.co.uk
Chuckit sport ball launcher
For dogs that love to chase balls, a launcher is a gamechanger. Fling your tennis ball using one of these and it will fly a hell of a lot further, which is ideal if you need to tire out a very energetic dog. It also means you can pick up and throw your dog’s ball without having to touch it, saving you from slobbery hands. Plenty of brands sell ball launchers, but we’re fans of this Chuckit one as it comes in various different sizes depending how far you want your ball to go and has a nice comfy grip. The bright orange balls are also easier to spot in the grass if your dog isn’t a perfect retriever.
Buy now £8.98, Amazon.co.uk
Outward Hound hide a squirrel puzzle
Our first impression was that this is a fairly simple interactive game, but it’s become one that our dogs are obsessed with. Every time we bring out this toy it is met with excitement. Hide a Squirrel involves stuffing three soft squirrel toys in the tree trunk and encouraging your dog to seek them out. The game comes in a variety of sizes, but we found that even the small tree trunk was fun for our bigger dogs. They also love playing fetch with the plush toy squirrels, which in our mind is far more preferable to chasing the real thing.
This adorable plush toy is available in small, medium (£16.33, Amazon.co.uk), large (£21.49, Amazon.co.uk) and extra-large sizes (£21.21, Amazon.co.uk) so all dogs can enjoy some puzzling play.
Buy now £14.44, Amazon.co.uk
PetLove nuzzle puzzle ball
If your dog is obsessed with food, this puzzle ball is a great option. It’s made from pliable material that’s chewy but resistant to teeth, and because you can pop treats inside it will entertain your dog for far longer than most chew toys. The ball is also easy to clean and floats on water so it’s a good toy for taking out on walks for games of fetch.
It is worth noting that once you stuff food in, it’s pretty tricky to get out (the ball doesn’t open) so we recommend using soft treats so it’s not completely impossible for your dog to get to them. On the plus side, the difficulty in accessing the treats means that this ball keeps our dogs occupied for quite literally hours.
Buy now £6.99, Amazon.co.uk
Sophie Allport sheep rope dog toy
It’s rare to find a dog toy that looks genuinely nice in your home, but Sophie Allport’s collection is surprisingly stylish. The soft shades and canvas fabric are more subtle than most toys and there’s a nice selection of animals including ducks, bees, foxes, pheasants and a flamingo. Our dogs particularly liked the sheep toy with its rope legs that are ideal for playing tug games. This toy makes no claims to be indestructible but it held up well when gnawed and wrestled with – although we wouldn’t recommend leaving it with a seriously strong chewer.
Buy now £12.50, Sophieallport.com
AllPetSolutions sunflower snuffle mat
Snuffle mats have become increasingly popular enrichment toys as they give your pup a surprisingly good physical workout. The energetic sniffing to find treats among the many strands of the mat will tire dogs out, as well as satisfy their foraging instincts and work their brains as they root around for food. The aim is essentially to mimic the way dogs would forage for food among the grass in the wild.
We particularly like this sunflower mat from AllPetSolutions as it’s a good size for both big and small dogs, the “petals” are incredibly soft compared to other mats. And it folds away neatly into a convenient little bag, which makes it easy to store.
Buy now £11.89, Allpetsolutions.co.uk
Kong sea shells turtle
Kong has created a brilliant toy here by surrounding the plush turtle with a harder “shell” that’s both springy and chewy so dogs can gnaw away without doing too much damage. It’s ideal for puppies that like soft toys but destroy them with ease. The turtle contains a squeaker, which we’re not usually fans of, but the outer shells means that the noise isn’t incessant, and the stuffing has a pleasant crackly feel that our dogs seem to love.
Buy now £8.99, Lordsandlabradors.co.uk
Nina Ottosson dog worker
The second Nina Ottosson toy on our list, the dog worker is more challenging than the brick puzzle but this makes it ideal for dogs that need greater levels of stimulation. Our highly intelligent collie cross who rarely shows interest in toys loves working on this puzzle using both his paws and nose to uncover the treats.
Rather than using one action, the dog worker asks your pet to learn sequential steps to find the food hidden within it, so they really need to use their brain. More complicated interactive toys like this are great for spending quality time with your dog as you’ll need to work with them to help them understand how to swivel the flippers and move the blocks to discover the hidden treats.
Buy now £22.11, Amazon.co.uk
The verdict: Dog toys
You can’t really go wrong with the old classics like Nylabone chews or Kongs, but the fact that Beco crab is incredibly durable yet still a plush toy makes it our top buy. For an introduction to interactive toys, Nina Ottosson’s dog brick is the standout choice, especially since it can be adjusted to be easier or more challenging depending on your pup’s activity and skill level.
For more pet favourites read our low-down on the Zara Home stylish pet collection launch
