Best enrichment toys for destructive Salukis

Mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise for most dogs — and for sighthounds like Salukis, that balance is absolutely critical. The right enrichment toy depends on your dog's intelligence level, persistence, and what you're actually trying to fix — boredom, destructive behaviour, or separation anxiety all point toward different solutions. What breed and age is your dog, what's the problem you're trying to solve, and what have you already tried?

That makes complete sense — Salukis are famously uninterested in chewing for its own sake, so Kongs and standard chew toys are almost always a dead end with the breed. What they do respond to is prey-like movement and the satisfaction of hunting something out. Before I point you in a direction, can you tell me — does she tend to grab and shake things, or is it more about pulling and pawing? And is the destruction worse at a particular time of day?

Perfect, that tells me a lot. The grab-and-shake behaviour is classic prey drive expression, and the late afternoon timing is classic under-stimulation — her energy is peaking and she's got nothing to direct it at. The fix here isn't a harder chew toy, it's something that mimics hunting and foraging. My recommendation is the Outward Hound Hide-A-Squirrel puzzle toy. It's a plush tree trunk stuffed with squeaky squirrels she has to pull out and 'hunt' — it directly channels that grab-and-shake instinct, keeps her nose and brain working, and the squeakers give her the reward feedback she's looking for. Salukis tend to take to these immediately because it feels like what they were bred to do. Stuff the squirrels back in after each session and it resets as a new challenge.

Honestly, she might eventually — Salukis are vigorous with toys they love. But the Hide-A-Squirrel is built from tougher plush than most, and because the squirrels are separate pieces they're replaceable. More importantly, the goal here isn't indestructibility — it's redirection. If she's spending 20 minutes hunting squirrels out of the trunk before her walk, that's 20 minutes she isn't pulling things off shelves. Supervised play is best initially so you can see how she engages, and you can buy replacement squirrels cheaply if needed. Pair it with a scatter feed on the floor right after and you'll cover both the prey drive and the foraging instinct in one session.

I think you'll see a difference quickly — Salukis respond fast when you're working with their instincts rather than against them. Start the session about 30 minutes before her usual walk time to take the edge off that afternoon peak. If she absolutely demolishes it within a week and you want something more durable alongside it, a snuffle mat is a good low-destruction companion for the foraging side. But try the Hide-A-Squirrel first — it's the closest thing to 'right tool, right dog' I can think of for what you're describing.