Cooper is the office dog. He’s a 75-pound Golden Retriever who looks like a marshmallow and chews like a wood chipper. When we say he destroyed a Kong in under a week, we mean he peeled it apart like an orange. So when we decided to test 12 “indestructible” dog toys on him, we knew most wouldn’t make it.
Here’s what survived, what disintegrated, and what should never be sold as “tough.”
The Testing Method
We gave Cooper each toy for one hour of supervised chewing, then left it with him for a week of normal play. Toys were rated on a simple scale: Survived (still whole, still playable), Wounded (visible damage but functional), and Destroyed (in pieces, stuffing everywhere, no longer a toy).
No toys were tested alone — Cooper had his bed, his water, and his humans nearby. We wanted real-world conditions, not a lab.
The Survivors
West Paw Zogoflex Hurley (Survived)
This thing is a solid chunk of Zogoflex material — a proprietary blend that feels like very dense rubber but has some give. Cooper chewed on the bone-shaped ends for a full week. There are teeth marks, sure, but no chunks missing, no cracks. It floats in water, it’s dishwasher safe, and after seven days it looks like it’ll last another year.
The downside? It’s $16 for what is essentially a rubber bone. Cooper loves it, but he’s not a picky chewer. Some dogs might lose interest if they prefer toys with texture variation.
Goughnuts Maxx Ring (Survived)
This one has a built-in safety feature: a red inner layer that shows when you need to replace it. Cooper chewed through about 20% of the outer black layer in the first week, which sounds bad, but the ring is so thick that at this rate it’ll take months to reach the red. Goughnuts will replace it for free if your dog does reach the inner layer.
It’s $28 for a ring. That’s expensive. But there is no tougher chew toy we’ve found. We’ve seen videos of Rottweilers and Pit Bulls going through these and still not hitting the red layer for six months.
The Wounded
Kong Extreme (Wounded)
The classic Kong in its “extreme” black rubber formulation is good, but not indestructible. Cooper managed to tear off the smaller nub at the top within two days. The main body is still intact, and the toy is still functional, but the “extreme” label is optimistic. For $14 you’ll get a month or two from a heavy chewer. That’s reasonable, but it’s not indestructible.
Nylabone Dura Chew (Wounded)
Nylabone claims their Dura Chew line is for “power chewers.” Cooper ground down about an inch off the end in three days. The nylon material creates sharp edges when chewed, which we had to file down twice to prevent mouth cuts. It’s still usable, but the sharp-edge issue makes it less safe than the rubber alternatives.
Tuffy’s Mega Boomerang (Wounded)
This is the one plush toy we included, and honestly it did better than expected. Tuffy’s uses multiple layers of fabric with reinforced seams. Cooper managed to rip a seam open on day five, spilling about a third of the stuffing. But he didn’t destroy the whole thing — it’s still a recognizable toy. For plush lovers, this is the best option. Just know it won’t last forever.
The Destroyed
GoDog Dinos (Destroyed in 12 minutes)
These are marketed as “tough” with reinforced stitching. Cooper popped the first seam in 12 minutes and had the stuffing on the floor within 30. At $22, it was the fastest destruction-to-cost ratio we saw. Avoid.
Chuckit! Ultra Ball (Destroyed in 2 days)
The Chuckit ball is great for fetch, but Cooper figured out he could peel the rubber surface off with his back teeth. By day two, it looked like a peeled orange and was no longer fetchable. Fine for light chewers, a waste of money for anyone with a Golden.
Benebone Wishbone (Destroyed in 4 days)
Benebone uses a nylon-like material infused with real bacon flavor. Cooper loved the taste. He also loved breaking it into sharp shards by day four. The pieces were small enough to be a choking hazard. We threw it away and wouldn’t recommend for power chewers.
What We Learned
You get what you pay for, but not in the way you expect. The Goughnuts Maxx Ring at $28 is cheaper per month than the GoDog Dino at $22 that lasted 12 minutes. Buy for durability, not for looks or price point.
Rubber beats nylon for safety. Every nylon toy in our test created sharp edges. The rubber toys either held up or wore down safely. If your dog is a heavy chewer, stick with rubber.
No toy is truly indestructible. Cooper proved that. But the West Paw and Goughnuts toys will outlast a Golden Retriever’s puppy phase, which is when most destructive chewing happens.
Check our premium dog chew toy set if you want a tested alternative. We built that set using natural rubber that Cooper has been chewing for three months without destroying. It’s the closest thing to indestructible we’ve personally verified.
If you’re buying chew toys for a Golden, a Lab, or any determined chewer, skip the plush toys entirely and invest in one good rubber toy. Your dog won’t care that it’s plain-looking. And your wallet will thank you when you’re not buying a new toy every week.