Multipet Nuts for Knots "Heavy Duty" Large Rope Toy

Sorry about the delays in posts for those of you reading this....aka Rosella lol. I haven't been feeling up to much lately, damn this morning sickness! Anyway, the other day I was playing with Dublin and I noticed a sad lump of yarn lying lonely in the yard. It was almost to the point where it was unrecognizable, but after staring at it for a second, I remembered that it was Dublin's knot toy. A month later, its more an explosion of yarn than a knot really. 

When you first look at this toy online or in the store, it actually looks really durable.The material seems pretty tough as its rolled up in this big knot, and you think "my dog could never destroy this!" Yea....not so much. Even though the material is pretty bound up in the knot, the material is made of cheap kmart yarn. So even though you think your dog could never get his teeth into that knot, all he needs to do his rip out one string and the whole thing starts to collapse, leaving you with....a nice explosion of colorful yarn everywhere. Yes! Exactly what I wanted to spend my afternoon cleaning up. Again, the primary hazard of this toy is that your silly dog can eat the yarn and poop out enough of it, for you to make a matching set of a hat and gloves. While definitely amusing at first, it becomes not so amusing when the yarn balls up in your dogs stomach and the vet is charging you your life savings to pump little poochie's stomach empty.

Final Conclusion: So whats the lesson we learn from this ladies and gentleman....knot toys are not conducive to dogs with big teeth. The five seconds of amusement it gives your dog is not worth the clean up, time, and money you'll be investing. On the tough scale, I would definitely gives this a 4, and if your dog is extra enthusiastic about ripping things up, I would give it a 3.

As always, AP and the Dublinator

Teaser ball by Jolly Balls

Ok if you have the time and energy to teach your dog NOT to destroy this toy, this is definitely worth it.  The point of the 8' inch teaser ball is for your pooch to get the smaller ball out of the bigger ball through the premade holes. However, poor Dublin batted at that ball and stuck his paws through all the holes before we finally determined it was near impossible to get the smaller ball out. Whether it was because our ball was retarded...or we were....this toy was not working out for our dog. It would only be a matter of days before Dublin starting chewing through the cheap plastic out of frustration.

Teaser ball by Jolly Ball; try taking that smaller ball
out and cutting a hole in it for treats!

So after fiddling with the ball for a couple days, my husband figured out a way to get the smaller ball out and cut a hole into it. He put the ball back into the bigger one and afterwards was able to put treats into the smaller ball that would fall out if the dog pushed the bigger ball in the right direction. We found that this game worked better. Not only did it challenge Dublin mentally, but he was entertained enough to keep him from chewing through the ball out of boredom.

Conclusion: The overall concept of the teaser ball is ok if your dog can figure out how to get the smaller ball out, or if your dog has soft mouth. However lack of thumbs really does make it a frustrating game. Try taking the smaller ball out yourself, cutting a hole in it for treats and putting in back in the bigger ball. You will find that if you watch your dog and teach him how to play with the ball correctly, he will enjoy pushing the ball around. The overall durability of this toy for large breeds is a 5, nothing spectacular. However, added improvements can make this a great dog toy if you supervise your dog to ensure he doesn't bite through it to get to the treats.

Love, AP & Dublin

The Romp-n-Roll Jolly Ball...avoid at all costs!

The reviews continue on Jolly ball products. We definitely went through many of their products before we decided that it was simply not worth the money. This particular toy was especially appealing because it comes with a nifty rope through it, allowing you to play tug with your pooch. Unfortunately, when it comes to large breed toys, we learned that less is more; the less your dog has to mess with on the toy, the less they have to tear off. Needless to say that that nifty rope was ripped off the ball and lying in shreds all over my yard. Do you know how much time it takes to pick up strings of fabric from all over the ground?! Not to mention the fact that your dog could digest those strings and make a nice little ball of yarn in his stomach....poor Dublin was pooping strings for weeks.

Conclusion: Definitely pass on this toy for larger dogs. The rope makes this easily destrucible, and once that rope is gone, it'll only take your canine hours to ripe through the rest of it. I would also avoid this toy, simply because of the danger of the rope coming apart and being swallowed by your dog.While our dog's stomach could handle it, I wouldn't risk a $1,000 vet bill to get all that string out. Overall, definitely a 3 on the scale. Save your
money!

Love, AP & Dublioni

Jolly balls....good for horses and small dogs...not for large breeds

Tug-n-Toss Jolly Ball

Jolly balls are an all around good idea. They're relatively big, come with this cute handle your dog can carry it around with and are hollow so that if your dog bites through it, it wont deflate...genius right?! Not so much! Jolly balls are ideal for small to medium sized dogs; even for large dogs, if fido isn't keen on chewing. However, for dogs like mine that love the challenge of chewing through a new toy, this one just doesn't cut it.

Specifically we bought the 10" Tug-n-Toss ball, thinking that the big size would keep our dogs from chewing through it. Wrong! Within the week the dogs had made holes in it, and had chewed pieces off that nifty handle I previously thought was so cute. Despite repeated attempts to teach our dogs that this was not a toy to chew, not a month went by before Dublin had torn the poor Jolly ball to pieces.

Conclusion: Not pitbull friendly. I would even reconsider this toy if your dog is a chewing enthusiast. The hollow inside and cute handle, makes this an overall weak toy, that keeps this toy from lasting. Definitely a 5 on the durability scale.

Love AP & the Dublinator

Tuff Balls....large sized tennis balls that are particulary useless for pitbulls

My dogs love tennis balls. Barcelona, my pit bull/American bulldog mix loves nothing more than spending an afternoon chasing after a tennis ball. The problem is, traditional sized tennis balls are useless in big dog mouths. Barcelona has this horrible habit of playing fetch for a while, than running off with the ball to chew on it. We have definitely gone through many tennis balls this way.

One day browsing through the doggie toy aisle, my husband came upon a large tennis ball by Tuff balls. They are advertised as industrial strength dog toys that won't fray with rough play. However, while the pluses are that it lasts a couple days longer  than the traditional balls and doesnt't fray, they are easily ripped apart by my dogs. The problem I have with this tennis ball is that its hollow in the middle. So one bite into the rubber and my dogs can easily tear through the rest of it in minutes.

Conclusion: The size is definitely great; its about 4-5 inches thick which prevents my dog from tearing through it in nanoseconds. However, its hollow middle prevents this toy from truly being a great, large dog resistant toy. On the 1-10 scale, I would give this a 6. If I were you, I would save my money and pass on this toy in the store.

As always, AP & Dublin.

Kong Toys...appear tough, but are not really.

Ok, I have to start this off by saying that I love kong toys....if I was buying for a small dog. Perhaps if you are buying for your cocker spaniel or beagle, these toys would work. However, while the tag may say that they are large dog friendly or that its "durability is legendary," don't be fooled. We went through the dental extra large red kong toy that you stuff with food in a couple of days. The problem with this toy is, that while the thought of keeping your dog entertained with the search for food, is appealing, its not so appealing when your dog figures out that the fastest way to get the treat is ripping through the entire toy instead of just licking the opening. For us, this disaster of a toy meant cleaning up peanut butter and doggie cookies off the floor after Dublin had chewed through the entire thing.

Dental Kong Toy for extra large dogs (thanks to kong toys for the picture)

Conclusion: On a scale from 1-10, (10 being the strongest,) this dental kong is definitely a 4. Although it is meant for dogs over 50 lbs, this toy is not meant for pitbull teeth. We will definitely be trying the extreme kong that is "supposed" to be for the most voracious chewers...as their label says. We will see how long it takes for Dublin to rip through that one. We will keep you posted.

Love, AP & Dublin

What works... a hollow wheel barrow tire!

After going through tons of toys, the one toy that has lasted the longest for Dublin was...wait for it....a wheel barrow tire bought at Walmart. This discovery happened only by chance as, after very little thought, my husband grabbed a wheel barrow tire of a shelf at Walmart and paired it with a rope to create a type of tug toy that he could both swing around and play chase with it. Although I was initially hesistant about whether A. our dog would destroy it and B. whether he would actually enjoy playing with it, surpisingly, Dublin both loved the toy and was able to play with it for a year until he completely demolished it.

This is definitely a toy you should invest in. All you have to do is check out the gardening section at your local Walmart; specifically look for a tire that is about 12 inches in diameter, and is one that does not come with the hub already attached. I'm not sure about the results of a tire smaller or bigger than that, as, if its too small your dog can chew through it, and if its too big your dog can't play with it. Also, make sure to get a tire that is not solid in the middle. In addition to the tire, you might want to look into getting a rope that you can tie around the tire. This creates a type of tug toy or teaser toy that you can use to play with your dog as well.

Conclusion: If you are in the market for a reliable doy toy, this is definitely the way to go. Its easily found at your local Wally world, and put together. This toy is worth the 20-25$ you will be spending on it. Try it out and let me know how it goes.