Five weird unconventional Christmas gifts for dogs

You buy your dog a new new tennis balls every weekend why not make the Christmas gift a little special? Get your dog a weird present this Christmas, something unusual that they’ll enjoy,

Let’s face it. The expensive personalized gifts you can buy a dog are for your enjoyment, not theirs. It’s unlikely that having their name on their collar means anything to a dog.

There are, however, plenty of unconventional Christmas gifts for dogs available.

 Treat Ball

A treat ball is a great gift for a dog who doesn’t like being left alone. It’s exactly as it says on the name. A ball with treats in it.

The idea is simple enough, the dog rolls the ball around and treats slowly fall out as it rolls. This worked wonders with my first dog; he was far too focused on getting the next treat out to worry about where I was.

Many treat balls can be adjusted to change how much comes out and how easily. You don’t want the ball to be emptied five minutes after you leave.

Boomer Ball

For the dogs driven to dominate and destroy these are awesome. They’re too big for the dog to pick up and to hardy to be destroyed.

They cost around $20 but it’ll save you constantly buying new balls when they get destroyed. Different sizes are available to suit different breeds,

Chuckit

The ‘chuckit’ is the branded version but you can actually find these pretty much anywhere under a load of rip off names.

It’s basically a large ice cream scoop with a flexible middle. You hold the handle and fit the tennis ball into the other end. You can then throw the ball, without much effort, and pick it up again using the scoop.

With this you’re happy since you don’t have to pick up a ball covered in mud and drool, and the dogs happy because you keep throwing the ball.

Bubble/Light Toys

Every dog is different but many enjoy chasing bubbles and lights. From the Fetch-A-bubble machine (with scented bubbles for dogs) to a simple disco globe from a toy shop. Setting this kind of thing up can leave your dog entertained for hours.

Hurley

A Hurley is a fairly cheap but durable rubber toy for dogs. It can be chewed, thrown and used as a tug toy. It floats (for when it invariably ends up in the water) and is a great luminescent green so it stands out when your dog loses it.

This is by no means an exhausted list. From dog pillows, interactive talking toys and healthy treats there is no end to the interesting gifts you can get for your dog this Christmas.

To a dog, Christmas is that time of year when those weird humans bring a tree indoors. They don’t celebrate the birth of Christ or look forward to Santa coming down the chimney. Make Christmas special for them too. Put a little turkey in their new food bowl, include them when the family opens their presents don’t just toss the new toys in the dog bed and, most importantly, don’t put reindeer antlers on their head. It might be cute but your dog will lose all respect for your fashion sense.