Yard Sale Toys?

[Jenny G]

Berman and Lucy are going through toys faster than I can buy them!  They completely destuff,  desqueaker and shred everything.  If I get plastic or rubber toys, they tear them apart and then I worry about them choking on the pieces.  The only things that seem to last are those rope toys which I think they are bored with. 

I thought about maybe hitting some yard sales and buying cheap stuffed toys.  This way, if they destroy one in a day, I only paid 25 cents or so rather than $3-5!

Any thoughts?

[Julie]

I would say as long as the toys don't have any little pieces that can come off and hurt them (like buttons) then it should be fine. You might want to throw them through the washer once.  A friend of mine used to do get her terriers stuffed animals from the local thrift shop.  She could get a bag full for a couple of dollars, and never had any problems with them.  She would check them over then dump the bag on the carpet in front of the dog.  He would go crazy digging through the toys trying to pick the first one to destroy.

[April]

I've gotten toys from the dollar store on more than one occasion.  Cajsa loves to destuff them and Gretchen is no different.  After they are "kilt" they carry around the carcass for ages!  I don't see anything wrong with getting yard sale toys or thrift store toys.  Just be careful that there's nothing they can chew off and get choked on, like a button eye or whatever.

[Barb]

I agree with the others - as long as there are no pieces to swallow.  I personally, would dump them all in the washer and run them through a cycle before giving them to the kids.   Can you imagine what they will think if you get a huge bag full - WOO HOO !!!!

[Mike]

I found that the Wooley "animals" sold at PetSmart lasted longer with Clifford than any other kind.  You're solution is a good one while they are in the more vigorous younger years, but at almost 12,Clifford can still gut a carcass pretty quickly.

[Kelly]

I think that's a good idea also.Last year at our church rummage sale a lady that raises Poodles was buying little stuffed animals for the puppies to play with.Just throw them in the washer before you give them to Burman&Lucy.
        A couple years ago I bought a pair of slippers at a yard sale to throw on when I take the dogs out in the morning but lost them as fast as I bought them.Manny used one until it wore out for a pillow and now he's working on the other one and it's just about wore out and if Blusky goes anywhere near it Manny lets him know to leave it alone.We solve the problem by giving Blusky one of his toys and then the 2 of them are happy.

[Jenny G]

Thanks everyone!

I was actually going to throw them in the wash then maybe cut off any little pieces like eyes or buttons.