Is it OK to let dogs play with squeaky toys? Do squeaky toys teach dogs to kill?
You see a lot of weird made-up stuff on the internet about dogs. Every. Day.
Let’s compare the facts vs. the made-up feces…
Let’s start with wolves vs. Poodles. Yes, that comparison test was done.
Wolves pups allowed to go after chickens. Chase => Capture => Kill => Dismember => Eat.
Poodle pups allowed to go after chickens. Chase => Capture => Maybe Kill or Not.
Do all wolf pups kill and eat the chickens? No. Do all dogs not kill and eat chickens? No But is the above trend the most likely outcome? Yes. Do dogs that kill chickens tend to start with squeaky toys and work their way up to chickens? No.
Dogs are infantilized wolves. Much of the behavior we see in dogs is what we see in younger wolves, not adult wolves. Some behaviors of dogs have been enhanced over wolves, which make them different than wolves, as well.
What does this have to do with squeaky toys?
Wolves don’t need to be taught to hunt, kill and eat, except by their parents and peers as they practice, they do get better as they mature. Dogs aren’t taught to hunt, kill and eat prey. There is no usefulness of that for humans, so we limit that by breeding and experience. Hunters use toys to teach dogs to find and capture game… not to eat the game. It doesn’t matter if the toys used can make squeaky sounds or not. Except if the squeaky sound enhances the dog’s fetch and retrieve, then that is fine to use one with a squeaky.
So, is it OK to let dogs play with squeaky toys? Yes. Just make sure they don’t eat the stuffing or pull out the squeaker and swallow that.
Do squeaky toys teach dogs to kill and eat prey? No. Does the use of squeaky toys make your dog more dangerous for your kids, family or guests or other dogs? No. Do police and military dogs, when they hear the bad guy squeaking, screaming, or die, then start to eat the person? No, are you kidding? Are squeaky toys the gateway drug for dogs to become killers? No.
If a social media dog trainer says that the squeaky toys will train your dog to kill, what should you do? Roll your eyes and move along to the next internet clown show.
Plan accordingly.