Most soft toys fail at the seam. A dog finds a loose thread, works at it for an afternoon, and by the evening the stuffing is across the carpet and the toy is in the bin, which is how a plush toy ends up costing more per month than a rubber one that lasts a year. Tuffy build to a different standard, and the octopus is among the tougher shapes in the range.

The construction is what you are paying for: multiple bonded layers of material rather than a single skin, several rows of stitching down every join, and protective webbing laid over the seams themselves, so a dog attacking the obvious weak point meets the reinforced part instead. Eight arms give plenty to grip and shake, it floats, which makes it useful for water retrieves, and the whole thing goes through the washing machine.

• Multiple bonded layers rather than a single fabric skin
• Several rows of stitching on every seam
• Protective webbing over the seams
• Floats, so it works for water retrieves
• Machine washable, air dry afterwards
• Weighs 640g

Tough is not indestructible. Tuffy toys outlast ordinary plush by a wide margin, but no soft toy survives a determined dog left alone with it for long enough. Treat this as a supervised play and fetch toy rather than a chew to be abandoned in a crate, and take it away once the outer layer has been breached rather than waiting for the stuffing to start appearing.

Who it's for: Strong-mouthed dogs who destroy ordinary soft toys, and owners who want something that works for fetch in water as well as on land.