Dogs who steal shoes are usually after the laces, and this is the safe version of that theft: a canvas trainer, stitched and stuffed, with real woven cotton rope threaded through the eyelets to be worried at. The rope is the working part, because those fibres slide between the teeth as the dog chews and scrub at surfaces a brush would otherwise have to reach.

At 18cm long it is big enough to hold down with a paw and pull against, which is the shape of play most dogs settle into with a rope toy: grab, brace, tug. The canvas body gives it enough structure to be picked up and carried about the house, the two-tone edge makes it easy to spot in the garden, and cotton rope frays predictably rather than shattering, so you can see when a toy is finished.

• Canvas trainer with woven cotton rope laces
• Measures 7 x 8 x 18cm
• Rope fibres help clean teeth and gums during play
• Good for tugging as well as chewing
• Three colourways with contrasting edges
• 72g to 100g depending on colour

Supervise it, and retire it early. No rope toy is a chew toy for a determined destroyer, and swallowed rope strands can cause a serious blockage, so this is for supervised play rather than for leaving in the crate. Once the laces start shedding long threads, bin it. It is also no replacement for brushing teeth: chewing helps with plaque, it does not descale.

Who it's for: Playful dogs of any size who enjoy a tug game, with an owner in the room keeping an eye on the rope.