One of the main things I’ve learned while working in the dog kennel at the local humane society is that TRULY durable dog toys are very, very rare. I can’t count how many shredded messes I’ve had to clean up after a bigtime chewer has his way with one of the poor, innocent rubber/plastic/stuffed toys that are supposed to be “No match for even the biggest chewers.”

I recently picked up a little toy from West Paw Design called the Mini Hurley. I decided to let this toy float around the kennel amongst all the different dogs for a couple of weeks (we wash and rotate all the dog toys daily), then I’d go searching for the toy to see if it survived the gauntlet of chewin’ pooches.

Mini Hurley started its journey with Skippy, a spunky little 8-lb Chihuahua:

After 14 days of kennel life, Mini Hurley was recovered in one of the dog-introduction rooms we use to show dogs to potential adopters.

Mini Hurley looked the same as it did on Day 1 of the kennel test.

One last test: My friend and notorious toy-chewing enthusiast Magellan. Yes, he is much larger than the size of dog this toy is intended for, but I wanted to see, fully supervised of course, if Mini Hurley could hang with Mr Magellan.

Here’s a video clip of the results.

Yep, Mini Hurley did just fine.

The verdict: Definitely recommended for people who have dogs that are very into chewing. Probably not the right toy for any dog that doesn’t like to chew…they’ll most likely just sniff it and walk away.

Where to get them: Pretty easy to find online. Just checked over at amazon.com, and they have all sizes available.

Price: Around $7.50 for a mini, and $13 for a large. Shop around for the best deal!

Other stuff you should know: These toys are guaranteed against damage–they’ll refund your money or replace the toy. They DO have different sizes for smaller and larger dogs, by the way.