The Best Toys for Bull Terriers – Our Personal Recommendations

Every dog, regardless of breed, has natural behavioural needs. Three of the most important are chewing, sniffing, and licking.

Dogs do not chew because they want to destroy your furniture or your favourite shoes. Chewing is a completely natural behaviour that helps puppies and adult dogs explore their environment, relieve stress, strengthen their jaw muscles, and simply enjoy themselves.

The same applies to their incredible sense of smell. Dogs experience the world primarily through their noses. Sniffing activities, searching for food, and scent games provide valuable mental stimulation, reduce boredom, and allow dogs to express one of their strongest natural instincts.

Another important natural behaviour is licking. Repetitive licking has a calming effect and can help dogs relax after a busy walk, a training session, travelling, or any exciting or stressful event. This is why we are big fans of lick mats. They can be spread with wet food, plain natural yogurt (without sugar or xylitol), cottage cheese, dog-safe pâté, or other healthy treats. Freezing the mat before offering it to your dog makes the activity last even longer and provides excellent enrichment.

We also highly recommend snuffle mats. Hiding part of your dog's daily food or favourite treats inside the fabric encourages them to use their nose to search for every piece. Just 10–15 minutes of sniffing can be surprisingly mentally tiring and is often as satisfying as a much longer physical walk.

Chewing, sniffing, and licking are not simply ways to entertain a dog. They are natural behaviours that help reduce stress, prevent frustration, satisfy instinctive needs, and decrease the likelihood of unwanted behaviours around the house.

As owners, our goal should never be to stop these behaviours, but rather to redirect them appropriately. Instead of allowing our dogs to chew furniture, shoes, or household items, we should provide safe and durable chew toys together with enrichment activities that encourage sniffing and licking.

A Personal Note

Before sharing our recommendations, we would like to mention one important thing.

Everything in this article is based entirely on our own experience and personal opinion after many years of living with and breeding Bull Terriers. We are not sponsored by any of the manufacturers mentioned below, and this is not a paid advertisement.

Every dog is different. Some Bull Terriers may love a toy that another dog completely ignores, and no toy can honestly be described as truly indestructible when used by a determined Bull Terrier.

The toys below are simply the ones that have consistently performed best in our home and kennel. We hope our experience helps other Bull Terrier owners choose products that will provide safe, enjoyable, and enriching activities for their own dogs.

1st Place – Kong

Without any doubt, Kong is our number one recommendation.

For adult Bull Terriers with powerful jaws, we especially recommend the black Kong Extreme range. The red Kong Classic toys are slightly softer and are excellent for puppies, younger dogs, or less determined chewers.

One of Kong's greatest advantages is its versatility. It is much more than just a chew toy. It can be stuffed with wet food, pâté, cottage cheese, natural yogurt, or your dog's favourite treats, and then frozen. This creates a long-lasting enrichment activity that keeps dogs mentally engaged while satisfying their natural chewing instincts.

If we could recommend only one toy to every Bull Terrier owner, Kong would be our first choice.

2nd Place – Nylabone

Our second recommendation is Nylabone chew toys and several similar high-quality alternatives.

These toys are specifically designed for dogs that love to chew and are available in different strengths and flavours, including bacon, chicken, peanut butter, and more.

No chew toy lasts forever, especially with an enthusiastic Bull Terrier. However, in our experience, Nylabone products last considerably longer than most standard chew toys while providing dogs with a safe outlet for their natural chewing behaviour.

3rd Place – West Paw

Several toys from West Paw have also earned a permanent place in our toy collection.

Their products are made from high-quality, flexible materials and many can also be filled with food for additional enrichment. While not every West Paw toy is intended for the strongest chewers, some models have proven to be an excellent choice for our Bull Terriers.

Grubber

Another toy we would like to mention is Grubber.

We would not describe it as indestructible, but it is very well made, durable, and highly engaging. Our dogs enjoy carrying it, chewing it, and using it during interactive games.

It has become one of those toys that regularly finds its way into our dogs' favourite pile.

Best Balls – Chuckit!

When it comes to balls, our favourite is Chuckit!

These balls are made from durable rubber, bounce extremely well, are easy to spot outdoors, and generally last much longer than ordinary tennis balls. They can also be used with Chuckit! launchers, making games of fetch more enjoyable for both dogs and owners.

For active Bull Terriers, Chuckit! balls are among the best options we have found.

Final Thoughts

There is no such thing as the perfect toy for every dog. What works wonderfully for one Bull Terrier may not interest another at all.

We always recommend supervising your dog with new toys, inspecting them regularly for damage, and replacing them when necessary. Even the highest-quality toys eventually wear out.

More importantly, remember that toys are not just for fun. They are valuable tools that help satisfy your dog's natural behavioural needs. Providing opportunities to chew, sniff, lick, and solve simple enrichment challenges contributes to better emotional well-being, reduces boredom, and often prevents unwanted behaviours in the home.

If your dog has a favourite toy that we haven't mentioned, we'd genuinely love to hear about it. We are always interested in discovering products that have worked well for other Bull Terrier owners.

Coming Next...

One of the biggest misconceptions is that enrichment has to be expensive.

In reality, some of the best enrichment activities can be made from everyday household items that most people already have at home. Cardboard boxes, towels, paper tubes, plastic bottles, muffin trays, and many other simple objects can become fantastic mental stimulation games when used safely.

In our next article, we'll show you how to create fun, inexpensive DIY enrichment activities that your Bull Terrier will love.