Dogs who destroy shoes are not being spiteful, they are drawn to something soft, chewy and heavy with the smell of the person they like most. Giving them a trainer of their own works better than telling them off, because it swaps the behaviour rather than trying to switch it off. This one is built around that idea: a shoe shape with thick rope laces, sized for carrying about and shaking rather than for a corner of the hallway.

The upper is polyester and plush, the laces are hemp rope, and there is a squeaker in the body with a bell alongside it, so the toy answers back when it is chewed. The rope is the part that earns its place. Coarse fibres passing between the teeth work like floss on the surfaces a brush usually misses, which is a genuine minor benefit rather than a substitute for cleaning teeth properly. At 200g it has enough heft to be worth carrying but stays easy for a smaller dog to pick up.

• 17.5 x 8.5 x 8 cm (length x width x height)
• Product weight 200g
• Polyester and plush body with hemp rope laces
• Built-in squeaker and a bell
• Choice of grey, purple or yellow

On durability. Either way this is a plush-bodied toy with rope trim, not a power chewer's toy. A determined destroyer will have the squeaker out of it, and once the seams open it should go in the bin rather than back in the toy box. For gentle chewers, taggers and carriers it lasts well.

Who it's for: Owners of a moderate chewer who keeps stealing real shoes and needs a legitimate one of their own.