Austyn has two different toy buckets, both of which contain his “normal” toys. These are the toys that he hangs out with everyday as opposed to the interactive toys that I use only when I am going to interact with him one-on-one. Tennis balls and Frisbees are wonderful examples of these.
Play toys are the toys that are in his play area. These toys are rotated every day. If dogs see the same toys laying around all of the time, they get sick of them regardless of whether or not they’ve played with them. Children are similar in this sense.
Canine toys can be very expensive so it is a good idea to rotate them on a regular basis. When I used to counsel families individually, I would have the children in the family decide which toys the dog(s) would have access to each day. They loved having this job! (Anything to play with the dog toys!)
Each day Austyn finds “new” toys in his toy bucket. I also have put the toys in a bucket that he can run into and roll in as he chooses a toy. (More mental stimulation!) This is Wylie-Rae rolling in the toy bucket.
Austyn plays wonderfully on his own, although anytime he is out and about, he is supervised.