5 Best Dog Toys For Akitas (Reviews Updated 2022)

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Being a large, intelligent dog breed, Akitas have a high demand for new challenges and games which will help them spend their energy, and so demand new enrichment regularly. However, while they are quite affectionate and charming, they are not known to be especially playful, and so finding the right toy to keep them engaged and fulfilled without them destroying it in a day is a puzzle in its own right. To take into account all of these needs, it’s important to shop carefully for dog toys and make sure they are long-lasting, safe to play with, and engaging for your pup.

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Best Dog Toys for Akitas

Here are our Akita dog toy reviews.

1. EETOYS Flavored Non-Toxic Nylon Chew Toy

To maintain gum and tooth health and channel chewing instincts, all dogs (and primitive dog breeds like Akitas especially) need a degree of chewable toys, and those toys must be built in such a way that degrades safely for the dog as they chew. EETOYS Chew Toy for Aggressive Chewers is a large, meat-flavored nylon bone that is twisted in shape to give your Akita a more thorough, satisfying chewing experience, while gradually and safely falling apart without becoming a health concern. This toy is safe, durable, and a great time for your Akita dog of any age, and with a lifetime replacement guarantee, it’s hard not to see the benefits of the EETOYS Chew Toy.

This toy is built to resemble and taste like a meat bone for your dog, encouraging it to chew and improve their gum health
This bone is made entirely of nylon and not rawhide, and so degrades safely through chewing
It comes with a lifetime replacement guarantee, should you need to have another replaced for some reason

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2. Nina Ottosson Smart Slow Feeder Beginner Dog Puzzle Toy

Most Akitas are not especially playful, being dogs traditionally bred to protect a household and hunt wild game, and have retained much the same behaviors of their wild wolf ancestors. To sate an Akita with such high intelligence and enrichment needs, puzzles like Nina Ottosson Dog Puzzle Toy, are a great way to keep them engaged with their toys. This puzzle works by allowing you to hide treats under removable bone-shaped plastic slabs, which your Akita must push open to uncover the hidden treat – you can even divide your dog’s kibble into the same compartments to encourage them to eat more slowly and improve their digestion.

Puzzle games like this one are especially good for intelligent, independent Akitas who are easily bored with regular toys
It is made of durable plastic and can be cleaned very easily
It encourages problem-solving and exercises your dog’s mind and olfactory senses

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3. Jolly Pets Romp-n-Roll Long-Lasting Rope and Ball Toy

The Jolly Pets Romp-n-Roll long-lasting dog toy is a great choice for large, active dog breeds like Akitas because it can be implemented in all sorts of play behavior. The rope is great for chewing and playing tug-of-war with their favorite human, the long-lasting plastic ball is too large to quickly destroy and is great for chasing around the yard, and the whole toy floats in water, making it a great toy to have your pup retrieve from a pool to keep cool in the summer months under their thick, double-layer coat. Because this ball is made to last, it should be functional for most moderate to heavy chewers for a few months, at least.

This toy serves as both a rope toy and chase ball, allowing your Akita to express both gnawing and prey pursuit impulses
Because of the durable materials, it should last a good length of time for dogs who are not intense chewers
This ball floats in the pool and is great for keeping your Akita cool during the hot season of the year

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4. Patchwork Pet Durable Swirl Fabric Warthog Dog Squeak Toy

Akitas, being such an ancient breed, have a very high prey drive, which means that they need to express their instinct to chase, catch, and chew small furry items resembling prey animals. Patchwork Warthog Squeak Toy is designed to both entice their instinct to hunt and chew small prey items that make noise and last the ensuing play session. Made with a plush swirl fabric and double-stitched for maximum durability, this is one of the more durable plush toys on the market for your Akita.

This long-lasting plush toy comes with a squeaker to provoke your Akita’s natural impulse to pursue prey animals
It is made from high-quality swirl fabric and is double-stitched for increased durability
This is one of the larger, longer-lasting plush squeak toys available for purchase, and should be great for larger breeds like Akitas

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5. KONG Scrunch Knots Stuffing-Free Long-Lasting Raccoon Dog Toy

Another squeaky toy resembling a furry animal made to exercise your Akita’s natural inclination towards chasing and chewing small prey items is the KONG Scrunch Knots Raccoon Toy, which is made to move in a way that especially enriches your dog’s chasing experience. KONG as a dog toy company prides itself on creating dog toys of high quality, which, for a slightly higher price tag than most online, are guaranteed to provide many hours of enjoyment for you and your dog, and this toy is no different. It distinguishes itself from other squeaky toys by its high-quality materials and the fact that it does not contain stuffing, making it still satisfying for your Akita to roughhouse with, and saving you the need to clean up after your Akita to prevent them from swallowing harmful artificial stuffing.

This toy squeaks and moves in ways that resemble a living animal, to keep your Akita engaged in play longer
Like all KONG toys, it comes with the guarantee of being a mark above the rest when it comes to toy quality and dog satisfaction
Because it is stuffing-free, you don’t have to worry about cleaning up stuffing once this toy tears, or that your dog might swallow harmful stuffing while playing

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Akita Dog Toy Buyer’s Guide

Each Akita is an individual with preferences and habits that will influence their choice in toys and playtime, but a good word to describe every Akita is “intense,” and so all toys that are appropriate for Akita’s must be as intense to keep up with them. As large, intelligent dogs with high prey drives and great intelligence, most will need a combination of puzzles to keep them intellectually occupied and active, engaging toys that will appeal to their natural chasing and gnawing instincts. For this reason, it’s important to purchase toys that are engaging, durable, and will continue to be safe for Akitas to play with even as they take damage and begin to wear down.

Durability

When it comes to Akitas, it’s not a matter if a toy will break, but when, and even the most fun toy won’t be very fun for long if it doesn’t last more than a single rough play session. Rope and ball toys are great for this because they allow for structured breakdown over time, with the rope first degrading through chew, and the ball surviving a long time afterward, giving the toy an evolving lifespan. In addition to rope toys, getting plastic toys that are too big for the Akita to hold onto with their paws while they chew is a surefire way to get an increased use time out of them.

Engagement Level for Akitas

While durability is important, so is the engagement level, since Akitas have very specific intellectual and physical needs to stay interested during play. Because of their high prey drive, they’re drawn to toys that squeak and move in ways that feel natural to them and need an occasional puzzle in their lives to keep them from using their independence and intelligence to get into trouble. Puzzles which can be used to hide food are a great balance of both these demands, since they both exercise your Akita’s brain and their foraging instincts, and can even be used to benefit your dog’s digestion by dividing their meals out into smaller portions for slower consumption.

Material Safety for Dogs

For all big, smart, potentially destructive dogs, toy breakage is an unfortunate reality, and it’s important to consider not only how a toy engages your dog, but how it will inevitably break down under wear and tear, and if they pose a risk to your Akita’s health. Toys with small pieces, for example, maybe swallowed and create gastric blockages, and chew toys made of rawhide and bone can splinter or turn to natural glue inside your Akitas stomach as they are digested. Nylon bones and chew toys with added flavorings and stuffing-less plushies are great solutions to this, breaking down into small pieces which are less likely to cause digestion problems, and minimizing the amount of cleanup that you have to do between play sessions to keep your pup safe and veterinary bills low.

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