Dog Toys: The Squeak vs. The Honk

All my pets are spoiled rotten but there are just a few things I don’t like when it comes to toys.  One of those things is squeaking.  Listening to a dog squeak a chew toy all day and night is enough to drive even the sanest person to their breaking point.  Fortunately for me, my dog isn’t into toys all that much.  Charlie does have a few noise-makers lying around but I opt for toys that honk or grunt rather than squeak.  It’s a mellower sound that won’t send you into a fit if you have a dog that likes to chew their toys all day.

There are fewer honk toys on the market than squeak toys but they aren’t impossible to find.  Multipet International makes a Migrators Series of bird toys that all honk.  We have the Canada Goose that Charlie loves.  This series comes in a variety of bird species in 3 different sizes: Mini Migrators, Medium Migrators, and Migrators.  All 3 sizes use honkers instead of squeakers.  I should also mention that if your dog isn’t a fan of the squeaker toys, this may be an option.  My late St. Bernard really didn’t like the squeaking toys but didn’t mind the honking ones.  At the time, the only non-squeaking toy I could get my hands on was the Hedgehog which is still in production.

The Hedgehog toy is a little easier to find than the birds above.  Just be sure to give it a squeeze before you buy it to be sure it does, in fact, honk.  Well, it’s a little more like a grunt.  The one I bought recently is made by Kyjen Plush Puppies.  This Hedgehog grunts, rattles, and squeaks but I assure you that the squeaker is tucked away and harder for Charlie to get to.  I believe they make ones that only grunt though so not to worry.

After a few months of light to moderate use, the hedgehog and the goose are both still going strong.  Charlie likes to rip off the tags but all the stitching is still intact.  Prior to both these toys we had a grunting Booda Bellies penguin at home which lost its stuffing pretty quickly.  Charlie managed to rip it at the center seam and had a great time ripping the stuffing out.  Since he hasn’t done that with either of the 2 other toys he now has, I’m not sure if it means that the Booda Bellies tear more easily or if he just liked being more aggressive with that one.  Booda Bellies come in 4 styles: Giraffe, Penguin, Frog, and Polar Bear and are pretty hard to find.  In fact, that’s why I switched toys in the first place.  I looked at a few stores for a replacement Booda but came up short.  After a little research I found out that the Booda Bellies brand is owned by Petmate.  This may or may not be the reason they are so hard to find.  Whatever the reason, a Google search will yield results on where to order online.

All the above mentioned honk/grunt toys are reasonably priced at around $10 per toy.  These toys are fun for dogs who enjoy squeakers and those who don’t.  Best of all, the sound isn’t so loud and obnoxious that you’ll be praying for the day your dog finally tears out the squeaker!

6 thoughts on “Dog Toys: The Squeak vs. The Honk

  1. Last time I checked, you weren’t in to squeaky kids toys either! 🙂 Great blog! Can’t wait to get the boys together again soon.

    • If I ever have kids they’re only going to get cotton balls and down pillows as toys!

      We should definitely get the pups together but perhaps we should wait for this heat to break a little first!

  2. Bought Cimbom, 7 month old black-lab mix, the honking goose last night and during the ride home, he already had one of the wings off! To it’s credit, it kept him involved after we arrived home. He wanted to stay out in the yard with it while I put all the groceries away. When he came in, he left it outside, so like a good fetcher, I went and brought it back in for him, and to my surprise it was minus the other wing and half the stuffing. Now I know what you’re thinking — I should’ve taken it away after the first wing as a responsible pet owner, but I gave it back to him a second time because I found it fascinating like a car wreck — and I was present to supervise. He then pulled the rest of the stuffing out, and the honker, which was actually just a clear plastic bag tied up around itself and a bottle-stopper-like noise maker, which then kept me occupied for a little while 🙂 Sooo, the goose carcass went in the garbage maybe 60 minutes after purchasing it. The issue I run into with Cimbom is that he becomes disinterested in the tougher toys made from more durable material after a few minutes, and he loves plush toys but only to tear them up. Any suggestions? And YES — he gets lots of exercise 🙂

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  4. I have several of the grunting/honking toys for my dogs. Usually the plastic bag dies before anything else. I’ve purchased from yard sales and dollar stores for cheap toys – they usually last longer than the expensive ones, but they don’t usually make noise. I’ve been trying to find spare grunting/honking pieces to put in the non-noise making toys. Any suggestions on where to find these?

    • Hi Melissa, Unfortunately, I don’t know where to find the honker bags. My advice is to contact http://www.kyjen.com/ since they sell the honking/grunting hedgehog toys. They may be able to sell you some or point you in the right direction. Good luck and let me know what you find out!

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