Outdoor Dog Toys to Keep Your Dog Busy

Outdoor dog toys are a godsend for all dog lovers! You know it’s an absolute pleasure to come home after a long day of work to be greeted by your dog’s warm smile. But due to the busy lifestyle of the average 9-to-5er, we usually do not have enough time to give our dogs the attention and exercise that they need.

Because of this, we may learn that our dogs become incredibly restless with nowhere to expend their energy indoors other than by destroying our favorite couch, shoe or Kleenex box. This inevitably causes stress for everyone. What can you do to occupy them outdoors when you are not able to be there to spend time with them?

One might say that a rambunctious dog is a happy dog. But to satisfy your dog’s natural inclinations, you can use a variety of outdoor dog toys to keep them occupied for long periods while you are away.

But first, it is important for us to understand why dogs require constant stimulation so that you may implement the proper outdoor dog toy selection strategy to attend to them.

Outdoor Dog Toys Cater to a Dog’s Natural Instincts

Dogs became man’s best friend over thousands of years ago. Yet, even after their domestication, their instincts to hunt, scavenge, herd and alert the pack of danger remain. Hence emerged this mutual and lifelong relationships between humans and dogs to live in harmony and benefit each other by harnessing these instincts.

Like humans, dogs learn to work by playing first. Certain breeds known for their dominant instincts, such as the guarding instincts of German Shepherds and Rottweilers or the herding instincts of Collies, first surface these dominant traits as puppies at play.

By learning more about your dog’s breed and dominant instincts, you may invest in the appropriate outdoor dog toys that would suit it best to play with.

Stimulating a growing pup by providing it with a variety of outdoor dog toys to play with on its own will boost essential cognitive processes, developing its natural instincts. This will greatly reduce your stress and anxiety, knowing your dog is using its energy in a constructive manner outdoors.

A dog that learns to play constructively alone is not too dependent on its owner to have fun. Otherwise, it may develop symptoms of separation anxiety that can also become problem behaviors.

What Qualifies as an Excellent Outdoor Dog Toy?

Maybe you’re the kind of dog owner who likes to dress up your dog. Maybe you like to see your dog have fun in the sun. And you want a toy that qualifies as an excellent choice for outdoors stimuli. There are multiple factors to consider when choosing the best outdoor dog toy. These include a dog’s age, size and preferred toy texture plus the dog’s natural energy level.

Younger pups that are less than a year old prefer squishy and soft toys. During their teething phase, puppies love to chew on objects that are safe for their growing teeth. This helps develop strong jaws.

However, senior dogs eventually lose their jaw strength and prefer softer toys to chew on. Naturally, larger dogs like Doberman and Pitbulls with more energy will have stronger bites compared to petite pups.

Hence, they need larger and bite-resistant toys, since small outdoor dog toys pose a choking hazard for them. Toys suitable for all ages usually include puzzles that can activate problem-solving skills. Based on these factors, you may choose from a myriad of playthings by types, proven to be safe and suitable to most dogs.

Many dog owners often overlook that a dog eventually becomes bored playing with a particular toy, much as humans do, especially after they wear out. It is essential not only to have a few of them available at a single time but regularly to rotate them when you notice that your dog has stopped interacting with them.

You could also mix and match various outdoor dog toys and closely observe if your dog has found a favorite. Once a toy is visibly worn down or if the filling of a soft toy has been ripped out, it is important to patch it up or replace it as it may become hazardous to your dog to continue playing with a damaged toy.

10 Best Outdoor Dog Toys to Keep Your Dog Busy

Many of the following suggested outdoor dog toys are long-term investments. They’re worth your consideration because they are creative inventions that can entertain you dog throughout the seasons and effectively drain their energy in a playful and safe way.

1.    Chasing Never-Ending Balls

iFetch’s Mini Automatic Ball Launcher is a fantastic way to teach you dog how to play fetch with itself as it constantly launches balls on your behalf! All you need to do is plug in the launcher and specify the distance that you’d like the ball to fly.

This toy has two versions. One is particularly made for small and medium size dogs and the other for large dogs. The larger version could throw for longer distances and can cast larger balls. Ideally, you’d place it at the edge of your yard, facing towards your home or if you have a large indoor space where your dogs may run to fetch.

Initially, you would be required to refill the balls into the back of the launcher. However, your dog may be trained to return the balls to the iFetch. When your dog learns this, it will be able to have adequate exercise and entertainment alone endlessly.

Although the launcher comes with 3 balls, we recommend purchasing more of them (1.6 and 2.5 inches in diameter for the small and large versions respectively) to ensure your dog doesn’t have to worry about returning every single ball to play again after all three rounds have been spent.

2.    Scavenging for Treats

Snuffle mats is a unique way to turn feeding time into an interactive puzzle for your dog. In hiding meals or treats inside this outdoor dog toy, you entice your dogs to satisfy its foraging instincts, by sniffing around and scavenging for the meal.

Instead of directly giving the dog each meals automatically, slow down your friend, allowing it to improve its digestion, given that dogs that eat too fast gorge themselves and also risk choking.

You could make use of multiple snuffle mats to create scavenger hunts for your dog, secretly hiding treats around the yard and elsewhere. This encourages movement and reward each time the next meal is found while you’re away.

3.    Pawing for Melodic Treats

 Arf Pet’s Dog Treat Dispenser tunes a dog’s hearing. It teaches your dog how to associate specific sounds with treats as a reward. The dispenser comes with a button that you attach to a wall using suction cups or you can plant it outside in your garden, grounding it in the soil. By training your dog to paw a button associated to a certain sound, this outdoor dog toy dispenses a treat for your dog to nibble.

This is an exciting way to give your dog the right amount of exercise by placing the button far away from the dispenser. This would require your dog to navigate around the house to reach the button, dispense the treat upon hearing the right sound and then return to fetch the kibble.

Furthermore, you could also mix it up and put the button in different locations every day which would require your dog to search for the button by venturing around the place.

4.    Conference Calls With Master

 Similar to Arf Pet’s Treat Dispenser, the Furbo’s Dog Camera allows you to personally interact with your dog by handing out treats when you are away. If your dog barks in front of the camera, the Furbo send you a notification on your phone so you may tune in to see your dog through their phone app. This way you can join in the fun.

The Furbo Dog Camera works in conjunction with Alexa to toss treats to your dog in the direction you chose and play fetch remotely. Because it also accesses your microphone and puts your voice on speaker so you may openly communicate with your dog from afar, it can serve as a way for you to keep an eye on your dog if you leave it outdoors.

5.    Hunting Critters for Small Dogs

Wickedbone’s Smart Bone is for a small dogs that are not heavy chewers but love to chase, since it’s designed to attract your dog’s attention through active vibrations and movements that simulate pursuit. Though it is safe to chew, as it is conveniently shaped as a bone and is also FDA-approved, the wheels are meant for traction not for extended chewing. They’re replaceable, however.

It is incredibly durable against your dog’s bites, but you do need to clean it from time to time. The bone responds appropriately to how your dog interacts with it, simulating a small creature.

Although it is automatic and mostly operates remotely using a downloadable app for your phone, you could also manually control it using a virtual joystick that is built into the app. This makes play time with your dog much more interactive. Simulate the great outdoors hunt for your small animal.

6.    Personal Dog Fitness Robot

Similar to smart bones, VARRAM’s Pet Fitness Robot interacts with your dog and prompts it to exercise throughout the day.

While the smart bone creates small vibrations and wiggles to capture your dog’s attention, the Fitness Robot is capable instead of maintaining preset routines that you have put in place for your dog while you are away.

This includes prompting your dog to play and exercise by chasing the robot and dispensing treats around the house as seen in their video below.

Spitting treats is how you get outdoor dog toys like this one to stop being scary to shy dogs. It is capable of being scheduled to navigate around the house. It avoids obstacles and senses whether your dog is nearby.