Stuff We Destroyed: November Edition

Brisbane wasn't much of a toy destroyer, he had some toys for more than a decade without demolishing them. Godzilla also tend to be easy on most of her toys. Zip, on the other hand, likes to chew stuff up. Yay! I finally get to test how durable our toys are! She's certainly not a power chewer, but she does occasionally decide to give something a good gnaw. Here's the most recent casualties:

Holee Roller by PetMate

I bought the girls a second JW Holee Roller so they could each have an Unstuffaball. Somebody got a little carried away liberating the fleece strips from the toy.

Kong Tuff 'N Lite Pig

Sisci Godzilla filled the pink pig with holes, but Zip is the one that chewed the face and feet off the pink pig. She loves ripping chunks off it. I didn't expect it to be totally hollow, but there was nothing inside. Except maybe dignity. 

Kong Squeezz Crackle Ball

Like so many reviewers before me, I found that our Kong Crackle Ball split at the seam just from regular play. This toy wasn't gnawed into oblivion, it was just fetched to death. I did get to see how it worked though, inside the purple ball was a clear rubber ball, and inside that was a piece of clear plastic like you might find holding a brand new action figure onto a cardboard back card. The result was a very firm and very crackley ball that was, it seems, entirely too much fun to chomp.

Outward Hound Splash Disc

This is one of those water toys that my dogs feel compelled to shred for some reason. I was keeping it out of reach until we could take it somewhere to play in the water, but it was all for naught. They really just wanted to demolish it on land or sea. There's just something about that neoprene bathing suit material that they can't resist.

Hyperflite Jawz Pup Disc

Hyperflite makes their Jawz discs for those dogs that tend to puncture everything in their enthusiasm. These are really seriously tough discs. They are not, however, tough enough to handle being pilfered from the disc bag for a good gnaw. I'm just glad Zip likes discs this much.

So that's what we killed this month. Toys that are getting a lot of playtime and handling it well so far include the Wox, both Jolly Balls, and an antler I bought for Brisbane in 2009.

Product Review: Hyperflite Jawz Hyperflex Disc

The Jawz Hyperflex Disc by Hyperflite is a tough but flexible disc made from food-safe materials. It is intended to be a happy medium between a soft, flexible disc and a tough, puncture-resistant disc. It is a purple matte color that is non-reflective to cut down on glare, and it does not float.

Photo by Erin Koski

This was the very first disc I bought, to see if any of my foster dogs would be interested in catching frisbees. None were, but Brisbane thought it was awesome and I've spent years trying to prevent him from leaping into the air. He's built like a coffee table with zero shock absorption and he'd only hurt himself.

So the Hyperflex disc sat neglected in a drawer until Sisci came along andthought it was the best thing ever. She wasn't great at catching it though, so I kept having to retrieve it myself and eventually decided we needed some more discs. This led to the purchase of our Hero Pup 120 set and my realization that most discs aren't $20 each.

Pros: Soft enough to play tug with and flexible enough for inexperienced dogs to pick up off the ground. Strong enough that it still doesn't have any holes in it despite tons of tug games. Easy to throw even for total disc novices. It comes in purple!

Cons: Super expensive for a dog frisbee. Only comes in one color.

Bottom Line: This is definitely a high-level competition disc rather than just for noodling around in the yard. It will, however, withstand an infinite amount of noodling so long as it is not used for a chew toy.