Exercise and Play cannot be overlooked when it comes to your GMD's good health AND "good manners."
Exercise and play are vital to the proper growth and development of your Golden Mountain Doodle and can contribute significantly to a calm home atmosphere. A dog that has a well-rounded exercise and play routine is likely to be less anxious, more trainable, and less likely to engage in problem behaviors.
Where to start with recommended play and exercise products for your beloved Golden Mountain Doodle? That depends on whether you’re welcoming a new puppy, or merely looking for solutions to problems with an older dog. On the other hand, maybe you’re one of those people who doesn’t really know what-all is out there, and so, here you are. Whatever the case may be, this is the place for some general recommendations for popular products in the Exercise and Play category.
These are Amazon affiliate links that help support this site, so shopping by clicking is appreciated. However, you may find a better price elsewhere or prefer to look the items up yourself rather than following our link. Whatever you choose, we hope that these recommendations will be helpful. Scroll through to see our recommendations. (Article continues below.)
Unfortunately, it may take some trial-and-error to find just the right exercise and play toys for your GMD. Some prefer softer toys, others hard; some are aggressive chewers and others not so much. There are some dogs who just don’t seem to “get” fetching, and others who won’t stop playing it. Don’t spend a whole lot on toys until you get a feel for what your dog prefers.
Just like children, dogs can easily become over-stimulated when presented with too many toy options. Instead of playing meaningfully with a few toys for a longer period of time, they may dump out all their toys out and not seem interested in any of them. You may want to rotate small groups of toys to keep them fresh. Make sure you have a good variety of tug, chew, squeak, and other types of toys that go through consistent rotation. If your dog has a particular favorite, be sure to have that always available. [1]
Most toys should be used under supervision before leaving them with your dog unattended (i.e., in a crate or when you’re not home), so you can be sure the toy won’t be destroyed and small parts (especially stuffing or ropes) ingested. In fact, it is usually recommended to keep rope toys away from dogs entirely, unless they are being used interactively in a tug-of-war with a human or in a supervised game with another dog.
Stuffed toys are best for puppies only or for non-aggressive chewers, and even then with supervision, “just in case.” Many vets no longer recommend rawhide chews, as they can be ingested in large, semi-soft pieces that have the potential to block the digestive tract.[2]
Here are a few of the aggressive-chewer recommended products from the Facebook Golden Mountain Doodle Community and other sites (these are affiliate links that support our site):
