We’ve all got lots of experience of entertaining the pets in our care, cats, dogs etc. I was wondering which were your favourite toys to use with the pets in your care.
I’ve survived two weeks indoors for much of the time because of inclement weather but was saved by a great toy box ! The Border Collie loves a game with a ball, hide and seek and tug of war with a rubber ring. If I’m not playing he settled for a chunk of wood to chew. He is merciless with cuddly toys so they don’t last long at all! He has lots of rope toys which are great favourites too… he takes his toys out if I’m slow in getting up after he has woken up which I absolutely love about him. He is learning also when the game is over but it takes a while to sink in! Ha ha!
Television programs he likes are tennis matches, he follows the ball’s progress closely. He also got involved when I was watching dog training classes… he barked at all the naughty dogs! Maybe it was too close to the bone!
If toys squeak that’s a plus when they get bitten into enthusiastically.
I haven’t tried anything with a simulated heart beat but the way the dog polished off rabbits when we are out I don’t think it would be beating for long at all.
Meanwhile the other dog after an early morning walk heads straight for the sofa ! You can see he’s got his leg up!
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We once had a dog whose favorite toy was empty plastic bottles. I felt a bit sorry for him because the owner never really bought any toys for him. For example, this dog also loved it when you threw stones for him, which I found pretty bizarre and dangerous.
My current dog had a soft donkey that I brought her, but she shredded it within minutes. Once a week, she’s allowed to chew and suck on the remains under supervision so she doesn’t swallow any bits, she absolutely loves it. Otherwise, it’s the usual stuff: balls, throw sticks, and tug toys.
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Yes plastic bottles are also a favourite with several dogs I’ve met.
Antlers to chew seem quite popular now too.
Most dogs strongly dislike and chase cats but I haven’t seen dog toys with cat faces or bodies!
Funny because cat toys often include soft toy mice with long tails!
I wonder what mice toys are apart from a hamster wheel?
The rabbits I look after didn’t have any toys … they were too busy chewing food!
Budgies like baths and mirrors and bells maybe.
This pup leaves his toys about everywhere and picks them up to chew now and again. Just like with young children, tidying up is best just before visitors or home owners are due. This is true about hoovering too!
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Depends on the dog. Some love tug o’ war, for instance. Some love puzzles that include treats. And so on.
Some like this border terrier I sat loved to destroy toys. He’s shown in the photo happily skinning a Kong toy I got him, before chewing the whole thing into little bits. 
My own terrier mix is never as happy as when he’s murdering soft toys filled with squeakers. He knows how to disembowel them quickly and then immediately disarm the squeakers, as if they were ticking time bombs. 
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Most of the cats I’ve sat have enjoyed little toys stuffed with catnip, or wands with dangling toys at the end.
There was this pair who loved being able to launch their toys off a second-story walkway, into the living room below. This is a photo of what I set up for them as entertainment right before I left the sit. That was to give them some fun before their humans returned. I gathered every ball or spring I could find and perched them on the walkway, ready for takeoff. 
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My dog, happily making sure the hotel earns its pet fee.
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