Differentiating dog vs toddler toys -- HELP!

[Anonymous]

We just adopted a 2 YO dog who is very playful and likes to chew. She's pretty good about only chewing on toys (i.e. not the sofa, shoes, etc.), but it's really tricky dealing with her and our toddler, who is right at her level and likes to dump out his toys and spread them around the room. We had a dog prior to this, but he did not play with toys much at all and was totally uninterested in our toddler's things, so this is really new to us!

I understand that the dog probably needs training to encourage her to chew on her toys and not on other things, but it doesn't seem like there's any logical way that we could expect her to differentiate between her toys and kids' toys (i.e. balls, brightly colored things, etc.). Maybe there is...? So far, we have been taking things away and giving her a dog toy whenever she goes after something that's not hers, but it doesn't result in her ignoring the toddler's toys, and he quickly moves on to something new that she will then experiment with, too.

We did create a basket just for the dog's toys, and the dog happily got everything out of it and seemed to understand the concept, but once they were out of the bin, it was a little more confusing to differentiate. Advice?

[Anonymous]

Constantly reinforce with her basket and spray kid toys with bitter apple.

[Anonymous]

Aw, let them share! A dog's mouth is cleaner than a baby's anyway =)

[Anonymous]

OP here. The problem is that the dog will destroy the toddler toys in only a few minutes of chewing. Otherwise, I wouldn't stress about it!

Is there a bitter apple version of spray that's "all natural"? Where do you get it?

[Anonymous]

Huh. Mostly, my kids played with the dog toys. Sounds like the kid has too many toys.

[Anonymous]

OP here. 12:01, that's how it was with our previous dog, but this is a whole new ballpark. Our DS does not have too many toys. ANYTHING he gets out is of interest to the dog -- from train track pieces to a little stuffed animal to a dump truck toy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. The problem is that the dog will destroy the toddler toys in only a few minutes of chewing. Otherwise, I wouldn't stress about it!

Is there a bitter apple version of spray that's "all natural"? Where do you get it?

PP here, OK, good point, LOL! My Mom bought her dog three toys a couple of weeks ago. She gave her one to play with while she unpacked Target bags. The dog had is destroyed before she was done with unpacking

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aw, let them share! A dog's mouth is cleaner than a baby's anyway =)

This is terrible advice. The dog needs to learn in no uncertain terms that he is not on equal footing with the toddler and not entitled to play with the toddler's toys. Getting a new dog with a young child in the house can be a very dangerous situation if it's not handled correctly.

OP, your new dog does not need toys right now. It's too confusing. If anything, I would get him ONE toy, something very specific, and if you want to get a few so he always has access and to replace when one gets lost. The dog only gets that one thing, and everything else is off limits. I know you're used to your old dog having lots of toys, but it's not s necessity. Give the dog plenty of chewy rawhide type things when the child is not around, and most importantly, make sure the dog is getting TONS of exercise outside, and he will be fine. Eventually he will get used to the rules and you can gradually introduce additional toys.

[Anonymous]

Ha, 4 years later and we are still searching for a Sophie the Giraffe that our dog pilfered and buried. One day, she will be unearthed I'm sure. No advice but just want to sag I've been there and miss those days a little.

[Anonymous]

With our dog, we just told her no whenever she picked up one of our daughter's stuffed toys and then gave her one of her own. She got it in a few days. She has a basked for her stuffed toys. The smell is enough that they know, OP. You have to reinforce when a new stuffed animal comes into the house and has no smell. Give it immediately to either your child or the dog.

[Anonymous]

Good luck. I think the best advice above is to have a single toy for your dog that it only gets in a particular space. We had our dog for years before our toddler, and she has LOTS of mental issues (dog not toddler). So we end up keeping all toys separate and clean up after the toddler constantly.

[Anonymous]

What breed or mix is the dog? A 2 year old newly adopted dog shouldn't be allowed to freely interact with a toddler. You really don't know this dog which sounds like is about the height of the toddler.