ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by LESLIE

I have a 9 year old maltese who is an extremely picky eater. We also haven't found any toys that he will play with throughout his whole life. We recently found some rawhide chews that he will chew on for awhile, but, he is very selective about when he will play with it. He often licks his paws, and I think it is out of shear boredom.

He is however, happy to chew or lick our hands any time that we will let him. I am just wondering what kind of treats and toys that you folks give your maltese. When he was a puppy he did have a nylabone-I believe it was chicken, but he never once picked it up. I don't know anyone else with a maltese and our breeder has since moved. I would appreciate any help. Thanks!

DISCUSSION:

Someone here suggested an empty plastic coke bottle. I tried it and they have a ball with it. All those expensive toys never get touched, but that bottle is all over the house.
-Marsha A.

Hi Leslie,Pepper is 7 months. He enjoys most toys/chews, but his favorite seem to be the squeaky toys & the nylabone. His squeaky toys are latex & his most favorite one is shaped like the receiver of a telephone. his other favorite is a latex squeaky ball. He enjoys the nylabone chicken & cheese flavored and also the nylabone carrot flavored bone. For doggie treats, we give him Iams biscuits. He also has tried Milkbone brand & snausages. Pepper doesn't tend to be real picky. He is the canine version of the garbage disposal!
-Lydia/Pepper

Lucy has a "bite the man" that she plays with from time to time (its a white fuzzy thing, looks like a gingerbread man, and has a squeaker). I got it at PetSmart and she has times when she grabs it and races around the house tossing it around and making it squeak. However, embarrasing as it is to tell, her favorite "toy" is any of my bras that she can get to. If I leave one hanging on the bathroom door, she will grab an end, pull back as far as she can, then let go, over and over until it snaps back enough to come off the doorknob. Then she races all over the place with it. I think it's so hilariously funny that I just let her do it. As for treats, her favorite are the puppy-sized Iam cookies. I also give her "Smoochies," which are really cat treats, but when I was potty training her, the vet suggested them as they are soft and she was so teeny, as the reinforcement for doing her thing outside. After she learned that part, the "hard" thing was getting her to come back inside--she thinks the outdoors is one giant playground full of treasures, to say nothing about lots of people and dogs to look at. So, I started giving her the Smoochies when she came in the front door after being outside. Now (she's 18 mo) she sits in the hallway when we come in and waits for me to go get her a Smoochie. She takes an Iams puppy cookie upstairs to bed each night as her "bedtime snack." Also at the vets I got her some CET chews that are supposed to keep the tartar off her teeth and she chews the heck out of them and often begs for a new one even before decimating the old one. Hope some of these suggestions work.
-cathy brown

My dog's hands-down favorite toy of all time is my six year old childs un-laundered cotton sock. I tied a knot in the middle of it, and the whole family handled it a bit. She has tossed that thing around and chewed on it for years now! I think it must be the smell. She pounces on it like a cat, will fetch and retrieve it, and cuddles it like a baby.
-Grace

When mine was a puppy she would play with all her toys, including a sock w/a knot tied in it which came with her from the breeder. As she got older, she would have a "favorite toy of the month". Now she's 4 and she'll play with new toys for a few hours, then go back to her tried & true 2 favorite squeeky toys. Once in awhile she'll pull out one of her old toys for variety. As for treats, she never met a treat she didn't like!
-Debbie

Hi, I have been using a sterilized bone and my maltese loves it. Then again, he has a lot of toys that he likes to play with. My stuffed animal that he loves to carry around, socks, and of course tissue! I think the best thing is a bone like a rib from our dinner table, or anything that deals with meat since it still has a taste towards it. Good luck!
-Jenny

Tessie adores her collection of stuffed animals. She even remembers their names and can find "bear" whenever she wants to. The only food treat she has ever liked have been carrot sticks. She adores them and I use them for rewards when she uses the wee-wee pad on the balcony of our sixth floor apartment. She consumes about a pound of carrots a week.
-Lu

TOYS, TOYS, TOYS, my Harlee Dee & Travis have enough toys that I can open my own store. The ONLY toy Travis will play with is his squeeky Snoopy that he has had since DAY 1. Harlee Dee will ONLY play with an old slipper of mine,she'll put her entire face into the toe area of the slipper,pick it up and hop around the room with it, and then she'll throw it. But everytime my mom comes for a visit, she brings her grandbabies new toys,and the toys are never touched. As for treats, I have tried EVERYTHING available in my area(Central Jersey)and the only treat they both go BANANAS for are called "Baa Baa Q's", I've also seen them called "Lamby Whamy's". Two of the only places I can find them is in Petco and sometimes Petsmart. I have even had these stores order them for me by the case,that's how much Harlee & Travis like them. They also love Pupperoni's, I give them each one of these after our walks. But they're both extremely picky about their T-n-T's(toys & treats).
-Karen Kalamaras

Emma has 2 favourite toys. One is a draught stopper which is quite long and she loves to chase it around the house with me holding one end. The other is a stuffed wombat which is filled with my old pantyhose. Both very cheap! Hope this helps.
-jennifer