Hi folks, Newbie to the forum here, we welcome home our little lad on Friday. My wife and I have both grown up with dogs from pup but this is our first joint venture! The only prep item we are disagreeing on is toys - where should the be stored and how much access should he have to them? It has been surprisingly difficult to find readily answered or in The Labrador Handbook. My wife believes he should have full access to the toys in his Pen area. I believe he should have access to a couple and it be dependant on what he should be focusing on (relax with comfort toy, brain exercise with chee toys etc). Any suggestions or definitive best practice? Thank you in advance!
We got our eight week old puppy six weeks ago and found having a container of toys available to him satisfied his short attention span, much like a toddler bounces from one toy to another.
Puppies get bored of things very quickly so toys should be rotated so that they remain interesting. I'd always make sure that there are a couple of different things to chew, and a couple of things to play with. Retrieving toys (I use tennis balls, rolled up socks, a special soft toy etc) are taken out for playing with with me, then put away. This makes these toys extra special and helps to keep them keen on retrieving.
hi hughie nut the answer above by 5Labs, which I endorse, falls under the heading of environmental enrichment.
