# Puppies and leaving toys around



## Edmond Kan (Jul 17, 2008)

Hi hi, my first Malinois - 9 weeks now.

I want any opinions and experiences with leaving a puppy to play with their toys.

Does it take away any drive? etc etc. is there any harm in it? 

What I mean is, if I leave a bunch of toys (4-5) for her to play with in the home, she would happily crawl around on her bed and play for most of the day when I'm sitting next to her at the computer. Basically, she gets to do whatever she wants for 99% of the day - and she chooses to bite tug and rip stuffing out of toys all day.

I did this with my other dogs when they were young, (non-working breeds: mutts) and it keeps them entertained and at the same time not chewing up my tv or furniture. They also listen to me great when it comes to commands in/out of the house.

Some toys are rotated every day or two to keep it 'interesting' for the dog and occasionally i'll throw one across the room to make it 'super-exciting' 

I do however, keep one or two toys as special toys for tug games and fetch games - these aren't left with her.

So the question: is it good/bad/doesn't matter to leave toys around? And what do other people do? Does it affect their 'working ability/drive'?

Thanks in advance.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I would suspect if you have to worry if a Malinois of all things has enough working drive that playing with some chew toys (which she'll need anyways when she starts teething in about 2 months) will hurt her, she probably doesn't have it in the first place. ;-) JMHO.


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## Michele McAtee (Apr 10, 2006)

I think, like you said, if you keep her FAvorite toys back for training purposes, it's fine to leave the others out for her for free time. I do pick toys up though, so they are not the first thing pup sees when coming out for the day. If they see you are the one to get the toys out, then that is one more feather in your cap as the "ooooh, he's the one who provides me with fun" JMO.


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## Edmond Kan (Jul 17, 2008)

yup that's a neat one.

 thanks


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## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

My pups 6 montsh now and I still keep at least 3 toys in her kennel for her to entertain herself. So far it hasn't hurt her drives. I'm just amazed she is so content to entertain herslef, didn't work for my male.


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