Animal-Positive Toys

[peace]

When I was a kid, the Pound Puppies and Pound Purries were a great example of an "animal-positive toy". They promoted adopting dogs and cats from shelters, and also promoted ID tags. (Kids could send away for an embossed tag with their name and the "pet's" name.)

When I was older and less interested in stuffed animals, another toy caused controversy among animal groups and shelter people. "Puppy (and Kitty and Bunny) Surprise" were stuffed animals that came with "babies" zippered inside their stomachs. Some saw the toys as promoting breeding the family pet. Others hoped parents would use the toys as a way to teach their children about birth instead of breeding the family pet.

I don't know too much about what kind of toys are popular now. I was curious if anyone sees any of the newer toys as promoting positive (or negative) attitudes toward animals.

[BlindLemonPep'r]

I can't really think of any that my kids have that really jump out at me. However, all monsters had better watch out because the kids are going to tickle the hell out of them!

[animallover7249]

When I was little I had a stuffed animal vet kit. Well, I had two, the puppy one and the kitty one. It came with a little stuffed animal, a pet carrier, and toy medical supplies. It also had a food and water dishes. It promoted animal care.

I also had a dog that came with 3 little puppies. The mom would bark and whine (if the toy was turned on) if the puppies where to far away. The mom had hearts on her side, and if you pushed them in they made sucking noises. (You where supposed to put the puppies up the the hearts to 'nurse' them.) This also had food and water dishes for the mom dog. She made eating and drinking noises. There was also some toys, I can't exactly remember though..I think a toy bone, a bouncy ball, and blankets for the puppies. The dogs all had id tags where you wrote in your name, and the dogs name.

[rabid_child]

I saw a Barbie doll on TV at the gym this morning that comes with a pet dog, and it carries a bone, and Barbie gave it dog treats and it ate them, then if you pushed down on it's tail, it pooped them back out again, and Barbie picked them up with a pooper scooper.

At least it teaches you how to clean up after your animals?? I couldn't stop laughing.

ETA: The link http://barbie.everythinggirl.com/catalog/productbrd.aspx?product_id=2000608&subcat_id=210018

Actually though, they also have pet sitter barbie? That's kind of animal positive...

[animallover7249]

RC, I saw that on a commerical, too! I had a barbie vet when I was little.

[Iria]

I had Barbie Vet too. It was one of my favorite toys.

This isn't quite the same, but SimPets teaches responsible pet ownership to a certain extent. So do (did?) virtual pets.

I'm not around kids enough to know what's popular now.

[GothicCandle]

little pet shop is a computer game and plastic toys. all kinds of animals from birds and reptiles, cats dogs, and fish even. I have the computer game, its for preschoolers. my cousins love it.

[Bonoluvr]

my 6 yo dd has 2 different vet center kits, they are both nice, one came with xrays and iv pole too! very fun for her since she says she is going to be a vet.......she made stretchers for her animals to carry them to the vet center when they need help.........she gets very elaborate in her play with animals!
she also has 2 different Rescue Pets.......they are stuffed animals, they come with an adoption certificate and name tags.
she also has the littlest pet shop .........
barbie vet......came with xray thing and doggie......

she wants the barbie with the pooping dog for her birthday!

[bekajoi]

The Schleich animals are AWESOME. Just animals, hard plastic, very sturdy, high quality. No moving parts, no buttons to press, just realistic (sometimes anatomically correct) animals for little ones to play with. Dinasuars and stuff too.

Target carries some, or search for them online to see pics of the whole line. reallygreattoys.com (I think) had the largest selection I could find, of these.

[bekajoi]

Yeah, here is a link to the list of what they have. LOTS under each category, so you can choose what exactly you want. Target's selection is small compared to this, but they may be cheaper there if that is a factor. I've been waiting on some items, there, though. (male lion, etc) I like to buy a family unit for about $12 each... Mom, Dad, Baby.

http://reallygreattoys.com/CategoryList.aspx?id=45