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Why are games and dog toys important?
Many people do not fully appreciate the importance of play sessions with your puppy or young dog. Dog and puppy games allow each player to discover and learn about each other and build familiarity of strengths and weaknesses, as well as general traits.
Not only does this ensure your dog grows up to see humans as a source of pleasure and enjoyment, it also helps build a bond of trust between you that will become important for effective training in the future. Also, whilst your dog sees you as a consistent source of amusement, they will want to be near you waiting for the next interesting thing to happen. This has obvious benefits in terms of recall and avoiding your dog seeking amusement elsewhere (i.e. chasing other animals, wandering off etc)
When and how often?
Playing should be seen as a reward for good behaviour, so don't start if your dog is being a nuisance. 3-4 short sessions a day should be sufficient, but also encourage other people and visitors to play games with your dog. This will help limit shyness of strangers.
What sort of dog toys should I get?
Dog toys are an instrumental part of playing games with your dog. There is now an enormous range of dog toys you can now buy. So much so, it is often difficult to decide which to purchase and which dog toys your dog is most likely to be interested in. This is a guide to the different types of toys available:
Activity Dog Toys:
These toys are intended to encourage your dog to play on their own. Many of these toys hold food or treats and some require your dog to experiment to understand how the treats are released. A Kong dog toy is a good example- they are flexible rubber dog chew toy product that has a small hole through which they can be filled with different things (food, treats, etc). These are particularly well suited for dogs when they are left alone or for dogs that are under-stimulated and have a low boredom threshold. It is a good idea to have a number of these toys and keep some of them aside and only introduce them when your dog is to be left alone or is required to keep itself amused. This helps build a positive association with being left alone.
Dog Chew Toy:
Chewing is essential for your dog to maintain healthy teeth and jaws. It is also a very useful distraction from boredom and a means of focusing their concentration and excess energy. A dog chew toy will focus your dog's natural chewing instinct on the toy, rather than on being destructive with other, more valuable, items. A good example of a dog chew toy is the wide range of kong dog toy products, various bones and rope toys.
Play Toys:
These are generally toys that you use to play with your dog or for dogs to play with each other. Most dog breeds have been bred for specific working purpose (hunting, retrieving, guarding etc). As they grow into adolescence, dogs tend to show a preference to games which accommodate the instinct for which they were bred. When buying dog toys, it is worth bearing in mind the games your dog is most likely to want to play. | 
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