Cotton Rope Dog Toy

Knotted cotton rope toys in twelve shapes. The loops are for tug, the balls for fetch and the corn cobs and carrots for dogs who mostly want something to lie down and work at.

Key features

• Twelve shapes — balls, loops, corn cobs, a carrot, a dumbbell and a slipper
• Knotted cotton rope
• Light enough to throw, textured enough to grip

On tug of war

Tug is a good game and does not make a dog aggressive, whatever you may have heard. Keep it low and level rather than lifting or shaking the dog's head about, and teach a reliable "drop" so the game ends when you say so rather than when your dog decides.

Important — supervise every session

Rope toys are for playing with together, not for leaving with a dog unattended. A dog that chews a rope apart swallows the strands, and swallowed rope fibres can twist in the gut and cause a blockage that needs surgery. This is the most common way rope toys go wrong.

• Stay with your dog while they have it.
• Take it away once the game is over.
• Throw it out as soon as it starts fraying badly or coming apart — a rope toy has a life, and it is shorter than most people expect.
• Never use a rope toy to tie or tether a dog.