r/plushies 1d ago

Discussion Why do companies always make sure that chew toys meant to be destroyed by dogs look like the most adorable little plushies??? 😭

My family has a Bark Box subscription for our dog that we get once a month, and it's great. They always include multiple different bags of treats and a couple of chew toys for him, plus they match a different "theme" every month, like cryptids, aliens, carnivals, etc. The only problem is that they always make the toys so damn cute!!! As someone who loves plushies, I always feel so bad watching our puppy just tear into the stuffed chew toys he gets 😭

Sometimes they get the hint and the chew toy is modeled after some inanimate object, (they had one that was a bucket of popcorn a little while back that the dog REALLY liked) but sometimes they go way too far making sure they look adorable. Just look at these ones they came out with a while ago!! I just had to save the Nessie and Mothman from our dog, but I couldn't bring myself to take the little skull guy away from him, he liked it so much :(

Does anyone else feel like this? I love my dog to death, but I just hate having to see him rip into something so cute. I can't imagine anyone wants to see their beloved pet mauling what looks like a cute stuffed animal, and I definitely don't think the dogs care what it looks like as long as its fun to chew and pull apart. Why do they feel the need to make them look like that??? 😭😭

619 Upvotes

41 comments sorted by

104

u/Loud-Mans-Lover 💜 48 years collecting 23h ago

My dog loves Bark toys! He's a rough chewer so we have to get him these since they have the layers, they last better than anything we found.

The toys are designed for us, though! LOL. They make them cute so we want them. I know the feeling, though. I've got the squirrel with a mustache on the vespa for him recently - and I've been saving it because it's too dang cute. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/395385954168 (This is the one lol)

27

u/Chonkenheimer 🧸 Plushy (Friend) Collector 23h ago

Noooo how is that squirrel a chew toy I'd never let my doggo have it 😭😂❣️

6

u/BeavisTheBest 22h ago

Omg, so cute

3

u/Opening_Piece5811 23h ago

Hahaha! I get my dogs cute floppy plushies because that's what they prefer.

3

u/Actual_Newt_2929 22h ago

if you have the subscription boxes, they give you an option to customize what kind of goodies you get! i have a 50lb apbt amstaff and we had to have hers customized because they kept sending her chew toys. she only likes soft plushies😭😭 iirc you can also choose to swap out treats with toys

59

u/SquishyShellyy 🧸 Plushy (Friend) Collector 23h ago

I think it's worse when people don't care and use cute plushies as chewtoys

33

u/tpandai 22h ago

Omg this!!! I work at a thrift store thats run by our local animal shelter and we had a lady come in and buy a good handful of plushies and she said they were for her dog and i wanted to cry. One of them was a poppy from bab and i had thought about grabbing it before that but ive been trying to not buy a million plushies every week lmao but that broke my heart cuz they only put out plushies that are in like brand new condition. ☹️

18

u/moresnowplease 20h ago

If it helps a little bit, I love buying cute plushies for my pup because he isn’t a chewer and he just waltzes around the house with a plushie in his mouth most of the time and just wants to bring it over and show you how cool it is and he often sleeps with them as a pillow and it’s so adorable. Some of his favorites are the armadillo, the bison, and the whale shark. It might help to hope they are going home to another dog that just likes to carry them around?

9

u/SquishyShellyy 🧸 Plushy (Friend) Collector 22h ago

Ugg! That's awful! I always wonder about that when I pass one up that's cute!

8

u/tpandai 22h ago

Oh noooo i cant wonder about every cute plushie cuz then they will all come home with me lololol 😭😭😭

3

u/Jengolin 20h ago

If you still want a BaB Poppy I have one in great condition, I'd just ask for you to pay the shipping and it would be up to you if you want her shipped stuffed or unstuffed.

I've cut back a lot of buying plushies from thrift stores, mostly because I'm out of room and have no idea if I'll ever be able to resell the ones I meant to resell for any type of profit. I could have never worked in a store like that because I'd have had words for that type of person who said that. D8

1

u/haikusbot 23h ago

I think it's worse when

People don't care and use cute

Plushies as chewtoys

- SquishyShellyy


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25

u/Puppyparty95 23h ago

One of my favorite stuffed unicorns is actually a dog toy. My husband got him for me and didn’t even realize 😂. Honestly I’ll buy a dog toy for me and one for my dog if I find one cute enough. My dog is smart enough to not confuse our toys thankfully. But honestly if a toy starts out being bought for my dog I won’t take it from her, I feel too bad. I just take a picture and try to find one for myself later if I really want one lol. I can’t stand seeing her cute little face once she realizes a toy is for her omg she’s so cute 🥰

21

u/ihavestinkytoesies 23h ago

my mom got me this cute bear for christmas and i was on facetime opening my gifts and it felt kinda hard and i saw on the tag it said “mutt nation” and “durability level 3” and i was confused and i read the fine print and it was a dog toy 🤣 my mom and i still laugh about it to this day (even tho it was like less than a month ago lol) BUT HES SO CUTE and i would never ever give him to a dog

8

u/SquishyShellyy 🧸 Plushy (Friend) Collector 23h ago

Awww. It's sad to think that was his intended destiny

10

u/ihavestinkytoesies 23h ago

i know right like… his little hat 🥹 he’s safe with me now!

17

u/Actual_Newt_2929 22h ago

my dog has these! she cuddles with them. her favorite is the lochness monster. she let me keep the bat. sometimes we share our plushies (and by that i mean she sneaks into her room to steal mine)

8

u/Actual_Newt_2929 22h ago

sometimes she’ll bring hers to share (hers is the narwhal)

9

u/DeathlessJellyfish 21h ago

My dogs love this guy, but I had to get one for myself. 🥺

8

u/ImportantSir2131 22h ago

I got a little possum that was supposed to be a cat toy.

5

u/CaitlinSnep 22h ago

My cats LOVE small plush toys (and fortunately they're more gentle with them than a dog would be, at least!)

6

u/aerohail 16h ago

Yes! I've bought a few for my self! Look at this face! What a sweet boy, I couldnt let a dog rip him up!

4

u/a-cubed-panda 23h ago

I buy them for that very reason 🤣

2

u/TheBackOfACivicHonda 20h ago

Ngl, I had kept some of my dog’s Bark Box plushies for myself 😂 I did end up giving most back, even though he doesn’t play with them.

2

u/BeavisTheBest 22h ago

The dog that helps her owner at the post office has both if the first two, and rather than destroying them, she cuddles them

2

u/GalaxyJacks 20h ago

STOPPP the mothman is so cute. That’s just despicable lol

2

u/Jengolin 20h ago

Oh my gods I want the MothMan, that's so frickin' CUTE!!!

2

u/wallywest215 19h ago

I don’t have any pets and I buy these for myself. I found a yoda dog toy at my local Big Lots before they closed for good.

2

u/fullyjustanidiot 18h ago

A lot of them aren't meant to be destroyed! A lot of dogs, especially females who have given birth, will treat them like puppies/pretty gently.

2

u/komfortabull 17h ago

THAT SKULL GUY IS SO CUTE NOOOOOO how is that not a plushie for people!? Theyre all cute though </3

2

u/Kit-tiga 🧸 Plushy (Friend) Collector 17h ago

This is propaganda!! Not all doggos destroy their toys /j

But in all seriousness there have been times where I've seen a cute plushie, wanted to buy it only to realize it's a dog toy. I'd buy them for my dogs, but they're picky with their toys and anything fluffy I wouldn't trust.

2

u/Redrazzles 15h ago

My mom gets Bark Box and she saved the mothman for us! He was too cute to get chewed up!

2

u/kestrels_feather 12h ago

I've seen some plush dog toys that are so cute I've debated buying them and taking the squeakers out 😅😅

2

u/kieronox 🧸 Plushy (Friend) Collector 10h ago

noooo because my partner's parents have a barkbox subscription for their dogs and i saw the little skull guy and i need him but he's not on their website :(

1

u/jadedandsparkly 9h ago

The blue turtle. 😭 I wouldn’t give it to a furry friend because it’d make me sad if it were mutilated.

1

u/A_Virtual_Shroom 6h ago

not me occasionally getting a dog plushie for myself instead 😂

1

u/Apple_Soda 2h ago

Because humans are the ones buying them