Plush toys almost always fail at the seams, which is why most soft toys last a fortnight with a dog who likes shaking things. Tuffy build outward from that failure point: layers of material bonded together, several rows of stitching down each seam, and webbing laid over the seam so it takes the load before the thread does. It is a construction argument rather than a marketing one, and it holds up.

The Odd Ball is the ball-shaped version, printed with a red paw, and its irregular shape gives it a bounce a round ball does not have — it kicks sideways, which keeps a fetch game interesting on a flat lawn. It floats, so it works for dogs who retrieve out of water, and it is machine washable, which matters more than it sounds once a soft toy has been in a river. Air dry it rather than putting it in the tumble dryer.

• Multi-layer bonded construction with reinforced seams
• Protective webbing over the stitching
• Irregular ball shape for an unpredictable bounce
• Floats, so it suits water retrieves
• Machine washable, air dry
• 16.5 x 24.1 x 16.5cm

Two things worth knowing. Tuffy toys are tough for plush, not tough as rubber; a dedicated destroyer will still find a way in, so treat this as a supervised toy rather than one to leave in the crate. Our two sources also disagree on the weight, quoting 250g and 300g. We have not weighed one ourselves, so treat that figure as approximate and ask if it matters to you.

Who it's for: Retrievers and other dogs who want a soft toy but wreck ordinary ones, and households whose fetch games tend to finish in the sea.