No plush toy is indestructible, and anyone selling you one is lying. What Tuffy do instead is build a soft toy the way a bag is built, in bonded layers with several rows of stitching and webbing run along the seams, so the dog cannot find the one weak line of thread that unzips the whole thing in an afternoon. Serious chewers still get through them eventually. It just takes months rather than minutes.

The alligator shape gives a dog a long body to grip and shake, which is what most of them want from a soft toy, and the construction means the tail and legs are stitched in rather than tacked on. It floats, so it works for a dog who swims and will not sink out of reach in a river, and it goes through the washing machine and comes out clean, though it wants air drying rather than a tumble dryer.

• 45.7 x 25.4 x 12.7cm, around 410g
• Multiple bonded layers with several rows of stitching
• Protective webbing along the seams
• Floats, so it works for water play
• Machine washable, air dry
• Made in China

On what tough means. Tuffy toys hold up far better than an ordinary plush, but they are still fabric and they are no substitute for a rubber chew if your dog is a dedicated destroyer. Check the seams after hard sessions and retire it once a layer opens. The listed weight also varies slightly between sources, at around 408g to 410g, and that is the one figure here we would not swear to.

Who it's for: Dogs who love a plush toy and destroy them in a week, and owners who would rather buy one good one than six cheap ones.