The Stuffed Animal is a Source of Comfort
It may be a case where the stuffed animal provides comfort for your dog whenever he finds himself in a distressing situation. Holding that one favorite toy might be a way for a dog to reinforce positive emotions. For example, you might notice this if the dog has a stuffed animal with him at all times when there are strangers in the house.
In some cases, a dog that is obsessed with one stuffed animal toy could also be due to their hunting instincts. compared to other toys, dogs may find stuffed animals easier to shred apart. They may view the stuffed animal as a ‘prey’ and play with it but not destroy it completely.
For adult female dogs, it may potentially have to do with their maternal instincts. If the dog had puppies before and the puppies are no longer with her, she might think that the stuffed animals resemble her puppies in some way. Hence, she will keep the stuffed animal with her at all times.
“Dogs are eternally toddlers,” she says. “A human child who has a favourite toy will, at some point, reach a developmental stage where its not appropriate to carry around a teddy bear anymore. We replace it with a charm in our pocket or a picture of a best friend in our wallet.”
“Like when you give your dog a toy and there is a moment that is happy and special with a toy and they associate it with a memory, which is debatable,” Kover says. “Its like when you have a toy as a child that your uncle gave you for Christmas and you hadnt seen him for ages. Those moments have a lot of impacts for dogs and the impact can last forever.”This browser does not support the video tag.
“I have a labrador and its a comfort thing for him for sure,” Liz Kover, dog trainer and director of Miracle Mutts, tells The Dodo. “Whether he is nervous or excited, whatever the case may be, he likes to have a ball in his mouth. Just holding something in his mouth is comforting to him.”
“Many of the dogs seem more excited about toys when their owner plays with them,” Jill Greene, director of the DoveLewis Blood Bank in Portland, Oregon, tells The Dodo. “The average dog gets a toy because they want to play. Its really just a way for them to engage with a human or another animal. So, a favorite toy could remind them of the good feelings they associate with playtime.”
Why does my dog have a favorite toy?
Your dog might prefer one toy over all her others for a few reasons. Most of the time, dogs will like one toy over another because they like the way it feels. Maybe it’s got a texture that’s different from the rest of her toys, and that texture is something she really likes.
Remember, dogs explore the world through their mouths. So the way something feels in your dog’s mouth will play a huge role in how much she likes it.
It could also be that that particular toy has a squeaker in it. As I said earlier, dogs tend to really like toys that have squeakers. That’s because those squeakers replicate the way a prey animal would sound in the wild.
And it could be a case of you encouraging your dog to play with that toy over all her others, even accidentally! Maybe you can get a better grip on a particular toy when you two play tug, so that’s the one you always give her. That might make it your dog’s favorite toy too!
Why is My Dog So Attached to Her Toy
I have spent a lifetime observing dogs and the things they do and have had many years at Holiday Barn Pet Resorts to channel that curiosity. The knowledge gained from working with Dog Trainers and other animal experts that we encounter through this business does not make me a dog psychologist, nor does it make me a dog behaviorist or trainer. But it has provided me a unique opportunity to gain priceless insight on some interesting dog behaviors. Dogs and their “relationship” to toys is one of those intriguing and sometimes puzzling behaviors.
It is rare to find a dog that does not like toys of some kind. Even if it is not the kind of dog toy we generally think of, i.e., the plush, stuffed variety, most dogs will gravitate towards one type of toy or another. Or they may make their own toy out of a non-toy item, like a balled-up wad of paper, or a stick. There could be a deep-rooted attraction to their toy of choice, which we will discuss, but sometimes it is nothing more than just pure fun. What are the reasons dogs choose the toys they do, and what are some of the more puzzling reasons a dog will act “peculiar” towards a particular toy?
Toys are actually important to your dog’s development. We seem to know that instinctively, because one of the first things we do when we get a dog is go buy them a toy! Toys provide our dogs with mental and physical stimulation. If they are bored, they will reach for their toy. If they need to chew, they will go for a toy. And if they just want to rest, they may curl up with a toy. Toys satisfy a need in our dogs.
Often, I witness my own dog heading into the living room and interacting with his toys, whether he is shaking them, rolling over them, or just laying his head on one of them to take a nap. You should see his face when I start straightening the living room and putting his toys in the toy box. It’s like he’s saying, “Hey, those are mine!” I think he takes comfort in knowing his toys are all around him. Maybe it gives our dogs a sense of belonging to have their things intermingled with our things in the home.
Toys often satisfy an instinct in our dogs. Retrievers, for example, because of their desire to “retrieve” may be instinctively attached to a ball or frisbee. Many dogs, particularly hunting dogs, enjoy squeaky toys because they sound like prey when they pounce and chew on them. Then you have the female dog that can have an emotional attachment to a toy that reminds them of a puppy. And of course, some dogs just prefer a good-ole chew toy, just because they like to chew!
Sometimes toys will evoke a peculiar response to a toy. It is one of those things that make us cock our head to the side and say, “hmm.” Why is my dog acting that way? Is it normal? Should I take the toy away? Let’s examine some of these scenarios.