New Home = New Toys (eventually!)

After 3 years, we moved from our cozy apartment into a cottage with a yard. Change is good! While we have downsized in terms of living space, Louie's space has definitely been upgraded! He has a yard all to himself or a easy to open barn gate which opens up to a larger yard and 2 wonderful golden retriever neighbor dogs (which are also Dan's mom's doggies!). With this new move comes lots of improvements - inside and out. The excitement of having a yard and friends in such close proximity leaves him exhausted every night but he is definitely loving life!

Currently, our backyard is being redone and is basically a pile of dirt so no new toy experiments are in progress at this time. I have a list of toys that I'd like to try-out once our yard is less much less accident and dust prone. I welcome any suggestions you may have and am really looking forward to new toy trials (& errors).

Stay tuned for those new ventures (& maybe even a backyard renovation pic or two!)... Thanks!

Tuffy Ultimate Bone

After many passes-by, I decided to purchase this dog toy that claims to be the "world's most durable soft dog toy". I have purchased many 'indestructible' hard toys for Louie but have been skeptical of the soft ones so I took a chance on this one. It has 3 squeakers which are "attached to the toy with protective pouches". They say that it is to "provide a safe window to remove the toy from your pet should it reach the core" and "if your pet reaches the white stuffed core of the toy discard immediately", so we did!

I am amazed at how long this 'soft toy' lasted (about 2 months) and give Tuffy a big thumbs up for being honest about what they're trying to accomplish with their toys. They rank their toys on a Tuff Scale to give consumers insight as to how durable their toys are compared to another. The scale starts a 1 which is designated as 'the cheap plush toy' and ends at 10 which is 'mega strong - the Tuffest'! Their toys begin at 5 on the scale which they say is suited for a small dog (this toy is rated a 9 which they say is extremely strong - extremely durable). I greatly appreciate their honesty in that their toys are "Built to Last" but to remember that no toy will last forever. I just wish they lasted a wee bit longer considering they're about $15/each. In all fairness, their packaging does state that "this toy is designed as a 'play' toy and is not a 'bone'" but Louie just can't grasp that notion!

It is a great toy and considering Louie chewed the toy so hard that 2 of the 3 squeakers stopped working on day 1. Although he then proceeded to gnaw the corners in order to get to the stuffing, which he politely pulled out and continued to chew the outside, it stood-up pretty darn well. I would buy this toy again but may have to hide it and use it for the park only since it's meant to be a fetch toy, not a chew toy.

Good job, Tuffy! I'll be looking for more of their products at the dog store.

JW Ruffians Dog Toys - Fish

As much as I like this toy now, it is one toy that drove Dan & I insane when Louie would play with it. It has the loudest, most obnoxious squeaker that cannot be taken out since the entire toy is a squeaker. When I 'tested' it at PetSmart, it didn't seem very loud but then again I was in a huge store with other noises. However annoying it was in the beginning, this is the longest lasting toy he has ever had (aside from the NylaBone). I will admit that it was off-limits to Louie for awhile since the squeaker was too much to handle but it has now become his favorite toy to greet people with when they come over. It has sustained a considerable amount of damage throughout its life, but I'm happy to say that it is still in one piece... sort of!

This toy can be found at PetSmart in all sorts of characters ranging from $4.99 to $9.99 depending on size. Here's the product features from the PetSmart website: "These rubber characters will drive your dog bonkers with their kooky sounds! Give them a toss and they'll bounce erratically, keeping your pup guessing where to jump next! They're guaranteed to keep your dog chasing, chewing and panting for more."

This is from DogToys.com: "Ruffians Fish by JW Pet is for larger dogs. Like all the Ruffians dog toys, the fish is made of natural rubber and has a bouncy, squeaky quality your dog will love. This rubber fish dog toy measures approximately 6.5" long. The diameter of the toy's head is 4" while the body is about 2" in diameter."

As I said, this product has endured some pain... one of the fins has been chewed off, the plug which allows it the ability to squeak has been lost and there are a considerable amount of tears, bites and cracks. It still bounces around, is great for fetching and the best part is it no longer squeaks! Louie loves to play with this toy even though it's missing part of its body and no longer has squeak-appeal (he's actually chewing on it as I type!). Now if only they could make it without the squeaker to begin with...

Air Dog KONG Squeaker

For Christmas, my brother, sister-in-law and niece gave Louie an 'Air Dog KONG Squeaker Donut'. Since it is a Kong toy and we all know how much I love his Kong (see previous blog post), I have thought about trying this toy out before. PetSmart sells a variety of these squeaker products ranging from $6.99 - $8.99. They describe the toy as: "Combines a tennis ball and squeaker. The durable high quality squeaking tennis ball is covered with durable, high quality tennis ball material that's non-abrasive". It really is a tennis ball material that has been molded into different shapes and has a squeaker inside of it.

He loved it! Unfortunately, it didn't make it past dinner without losing the ability to squeak and receiving some gnarly holes. It did aid in keep him busy while my nieces ran around the house and when we were eating dinner. It definitely kept him occupied and we all got some good tosses out of before it was in pieces. I am not surprised that he was able to demolish this toy in a matter of hours considering he was inside and the fact that he seems to have something against tennis balls. He never seems to actually 'play' with them (when we play fetch at the park with a tennis ball, before he retrieves it, he'll shake it, bite it, pull at it and all but swallow it instead of giving it back!) so I had a feeling this toy would end up the same way the tennis balls do. I think though, had he been playing with it outside instead of using it as a pacifier, it probably would've lasted longer. I still think it's a great product and will probably buy another one before we go camping to see if he'll retrieve it.

Thanks Dan, Michelle & Mia!