What’s with that CRunCHing sound?
The other day, a pet shelter employee asked me, “Why do dogs like to chew on water bottles?” This tech does a lot of volunteer work with animal shelters and rescue groups. These dogs don’t have toys, so she sometimes gives the dogs her empty water bottles to play with. She says they LOVE them. They will chew them and play with them for hours.
So why do dogs like to chew on water bottles? Here’s my theory.
Most dogs love to chew on just about anything, and they like chewing on toys with squeakers inside (some dogs are obsessed with squeakers). I think this behavior goes back to a dog’s natural play and hunting rituals. It wasn’t all that long ago when dogs had to hunt to stay alive – many dogs still do – and the dog’s prey would make squeaking noises. I think that’s why dogs find squeakers so satisfying. I think dogs like to chew on water bottles for the same reason. They enjoy hearing the crunching sound of the plastic bending and cracking as they chew. Water bottles can be very satisfying for dogs – they play and chew, and they get a noise (not a squeak but a crunch).Speaking of the water bottle thing, I recently found a really fun dog toy called Bottle Crunchers that make it much safer for your dog to chew on empty water bottles. They are brightly colored protective “sleeves” that look like cute little critters – an adorable lizard and one very cool cat-r-piller
The Bottle Crunchers fit snuggly around an empty water bottle. As your dog chews, the bottle inside makes all those wonderful crunching noises dogs loves … but the protective sleeve keeps the sharp edges of the broken plastic from cutting his mouth. For even more fun put a little kibble inside the bottle….the sounds and smells entice Fido even more. Secure Velcro closures keep the empty bottle tucked safely inside while your dog chews to his heart’s delight. It’s a great idea.
Bottle Crunchers were designed to give your dog all of the fun of chewing empty water bottles … without the danger.And Bottle Crunchers can be refilled over and over again. Just open the Velcro tabs and put in a fresh water bottle. You’ll know when it’s time for a new bottle because the toy will get “quiet”. This means that your dog has pretty much destroyed the empty water bottle inside.
In our testing, Bottle Crunchers clean up nicely. When they become soiled with slobber or dirt, just pop off the covers and throw them in the wash.
A local veterinarian tested the Bottle Crunchers toy on her Boxer, Zack. He really likes to chew, and he was CRAZY about his Bottle Cruncher! She said he wouldn’t put it down. He played with it safely for hours. And the covers cleaned up nicely when she threw them in the wash. Here’s a picture of Zack nuzzling his new favorite toy!
