Cheap Dog Toys @ Goodwill
Posted April 17th, 2003 @ 03:49pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Did you know that you can get a big big bag full of stuffed animals for $2.50 at your local Goodwill store? These make great toys for dogs, who chew them up anyway. Stop paying $10 per toy at Petsmart! Getsmart and shop for your doggie toys at Goodwill!
Flint likes his new pink stuffed animal. This is one of the ones I had to throw out quickly, though, because it had foam beads and not stuffing inside of it. I bought two bags today, and then sorted them into "stuffed toys only" and "toys with things like batteries in them." I got about one full bag of each, and donated the bag with the non-suitable toys back immediately. $5 for about 10 new stuffed animals? Bargain city!
Donate Life
Posted 17 Apr 2003 at 7:34pm #
Great idea! I will have to get my wife to start doing this. She is one to buy the $10 toys at Petsmart. She probably won't want to get them at the goodwill. Because they aren't fashionable enough or something.
Is that a GBA SP I see there hanging on the wall? Just got mine last weekend. It's great!
Posted 17 Apr 2003 at 8:25pm #
Indeed it is. Indeed.
Posted 18 Apr 2003 at 9:18am #
Too bad my two dogs destroy anything with stuffing. The only thing our dogs get to enjoy is rope toys and hard nylabones.
I would have liked this idea before spending lots of money at petco though. It would have been cheaper to come to the realization that they can't have anything stuffed. 🙂
Posted 18 Apr 2003 at 9:41am #
My dog destroys stuffed things too (takes him a week or sometimes more), which is why paying about 50 cents per stuffed thing is so nice.
If he doesn't have stuffed, softer toys, he chews sweaters or towels. Well, one of each before I realized this.
Posted 18 Apr 2003 at 11:02am #
A week or more? Luckly you, it takes mine about a half hour to get to the "sweet spot" of a stuffed toy, perhaps it because they are always fighting over who gets to enjoy it. Chalk it up to sibling rivalry I guess.
It takes just about as long for them to munch down a rawhide bone. We usually have to take them away because one of them will usually get ill (from eating the entire thing), and yak on the floor.
The older dog (Lexi) used to chew on the trim on the walls and the banister before we got her a playmate (Rory). Now she is the good one, whilst Rory destroys shoes (four pairs so far), pictures, shirts, etc. At this rate, we'll have to get a pack to settle them all down.
Posted 18 Apr 2003 at 11:37am #
What about all the kids who's parents went to Goodwill to buy them stuffed animals and then couldn't find any?
Don't get me wrong... I'm all for ideas to bypass the commercial juggernaut, just don't get overzealous. And I'm sure everybody here is intelligent enough to find other alternatives as well.
And puhleaze, kids don't need toys with batteries, they need toys they can use their imaginations with.
-Jennifer
Posted 14 May 2003 at 2:23am #
My wife and I haven't purchased any new toys for our weim Gitte in almost a month because she recently set a personal record for stuffed animal destruction. One night Mary gave her a cute little stuffed hedgehog and then fell asleep on the couch watching TV while I was back in my office. I came out to see what they were up to and discovered that Gitte had completely disemboweled her new toy while Mary was sleeping. Stuffing was everywhere and the hedgehog's stomach was almost entirely ripped out. Luckily at the time we still had a pretty good supply of slightly more durable toys; now that we're running low again and Gitte's chewing up gardening tool handles (today's incident :-P) we're definitely going to have to check out Goodwill.
Posted 19 Sep 2003 at 5:04pm #
I just want to share this information with other pet owners. My husband and I have a 6-month old Rottie, very lovable and sweet. Last week she became sick and after a vet visit and ex-rays found her stomach to be plugged up. After several days of vomit and no desire for food or even water, we went against our vets wishes and gave her caster oil via mouth through a syringe. Finally after two days she had a bowel movement and what a surprise for mom and dad, but the movement was solid, actually hard as a rock that she hurt having it! It was full of the poly fill in the stuffed animals we let her play with over the past months. As a result we no longer let her have them. Its not worth her alsmost having surgery over. Be cautious please! Gloria
Posted 24 Sep 2003 at 7:11am #
I found a toy - a Lamaze toy - all Lamaze toys are unconditionally guaranteed for life at a online Lamaze Toys shop. I will have to buy one for doghter couse she chews toys up faster then a dog anyway.
Posted 27 Sep 2006 at 11:20pm #
WOW! Good idea. My Lab chews through my kid's stuffed toys like crazy! But she loves them too. She always has a stuffed "baby" in her mouth...carries it everywhere!