Product Review: Petprojekt Dogegg

The Petprojekt Dogegg is a durable rubber squeaky toy. It is heavy, thick, chewable, and made from natural rubber. The Dogegg comes in two sizes, ours is the larger one.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is an interesting toy, there aren't many like it. It is very sturdy and has quite a bit of heft. It's a strong toy with a big squeak. Not unlike a Cuz ball, but with much thicker walls and no chewlicious feet.

So far nobody at my house has fallen in love with the Dogegg. I'm a little surprised. I was pretty sure that it was tickle Brisbane's slightly-obsessive compulsion to bite things, but I think it's too stiff for him.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: More durable than a Cuz ball. Great squeak. No easy bits to chew off. Heavy and solid, very sturdy. Bigger than a tennis ball, larger size is suitable for Labradors and other big dogs. Wobbles across the floor in an exciting fashion.

Cons: Light color starts looking filthy immediately. Large Dogegg is too big for 40-pound Brisbane to squeak.

Bottom Line:  I would get the smaller size for Briz, but if he liked it I would end up having to confiscate it for being too loud. I should probably give it to someone who has a bigger dog.

What is your dog's favorite squeaky toy.

Product Review: Jax & Bones Nautical Wheel Rope Toy

The Jax and Bones Nautical Wheel Rope Toy is a knotted rope toy designed to be shredded, frayed, and chewed. It is advertised as working as doggy dental floss, and can be soaked in water and frozen to provide relief for teething puppies. Jax & Bones rope toys are colored with non-toxic vegetable dyes and come in a wide variety of colors and shapes.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Nautical Wheel arrived in our August Allergy-Friendly BarkBox. Brisbane isn't crazy about rope toys unless he is being silly during a photo shoot. Fortunately, we have foster dogs. Xena enjoyed unraveling various bits of the wheel, and Darla has also enjoyed carrying it around most recently. This is a toy that will likely go home with a foster dog rather than cluttering up my toybox.

Pros: Sturdy and resists being unraveled for a good long time. Non-toxic and fun to shred. Might be a good toy for those paper-shredding dogs, though I still haven;t found a toy that simulates that great joy.

Cons: Not all dogs love untying rope toys. Could be dangerous for dogs that eat things that aren't food. May be possible to shred into super-dangerous strings.

Bottom Line: I would assess a dog's chewing style and supervise them with this toy, at least until I am certain they aren't going to swallow it whole.

Treat Tuesday: Antlers!

Deer antler are natural, unprocessed chews that are long-lasting and safe. They are available from many different manufacturers in many different sizes and shapes. Availability varies based on your location. If you live in a place where deer hunting is common, you might be able to buy them at a farmer's market or from your neighbors. If you live on the beach in California where hunters (and deer) are few and far between, you may have to actually go to a pet store.

Photo by Erin Koski

I bought an antler for Brisbane when he was a tiny, evil puppy. He chewed it off and on before finally ignoring it. I paid $20 for that 6" chunk of deer, so I kept it around even when I donated many other unloved dog toys.

Ru has occasionally discovered the antler and given a good chew before burying it in the couch. Ulysses also enjoyed chewing it. It's worth noting that the original antler is now almost a decade old. Up until the foster puppies got a hold of it, the original antler showed very little wear.

Photo by Erin Koski

The antler in these pictures is one I got from a local pet store that sells them by the pound. Here on Planet California, deer antlers can be very expensive. This one was $6, which is crazy cheap.

I'm told the best antlers come from elk. The softest have large porous marrow centers, which makes them softer and less likely to crack teeth. The soft ones get eaten faster.

Good For: Puppies. Dogs that like to chew for fun. Dogs that like novel toys.

Not Good For: Dogs that only chew things they can eat (including Brisbane, who was bribed with peanut butter to get these pictures. Dogs that chew really, really hard.

How Much We Like Them: I only bought one in ten years because it lasted ten years. I'll be looking for even softer antlers now.

Project Kong Chewing: Success!

After a full month of encouragement, Ulysses as finally started to gnaw his durable rubber Kong toys for fun and recreation. I am so proud. This change occurred along with several other big steps for Uly, including beginning to jump up on things with both back feet at the same time, and being able to focus on me in the presence of a leashed dog.

From his broken and severely worn teeth, we have surmised that Uly used to enjoy chewing on abrasive things like tennis balls and rocks. This fits with our guess that he was confined to a small outdoor area for most of his life. He hadn't been gnawing non-edible things for fun prior to Project Kong Chewing, but his willingness to chomp on raw bones, bully sticks, and rawhides helped demonstrate that pain wasn't likely to be the issue. Maybe he just needed to learn how to be a dog again.

It's possible Uly would have gotten to this point on his own, maybe I didn't really teach him anything. What I did do was offer him softer and smaller Kongs, along with introducing them as fun fetch toys as well as vessels for peanut butter. Did it help? I'm not sure, Brisbane and Ru don't seem to be convinced that Kongs are for chewing.

This is what success looks like, people!

This is a project I undertook not for occupational therapy for Ulysses, but because I got tired of scrubbing bits of fossilized peanut butter out of the end of every Kong. Uly has so far made his mark on the red Kongs, and may be switching exclusively to Blue or even Black soon.

Of course, having an actual recreational chewer in the house means I will have to be more careful about retrieving Ru's tiny Kongs from his crate. Uly got one of the Extra Small ones yesterday and chewed the whole top off. I haven't found it yet, but will be watching the yard. It's a small piece of a very small toy inside a 50lb dog, so I expect that this too shall pass.

Project Kong Chewing

I love Kong toys and so do my dogs, but I feel like they are missing out. At this point we have maybe ten of them that I keep in the freezer, stuffed full of peanut butter and other tasty things. While all three dogs thoroughly enjoy licking peanut butter out of a Kong, none of them are very good at unstuffing the toys.
Kong's durable rubber chew toys are designed to be stuffed with biscuits, kibble, and squishy things like peanut butter. The dog can lick these goodies out of the toy, but sometimes the food gets stuck in there. Chomping down hard on the small end of the toy is the traditional move from the Kong playbook for loosening up trapped cookies. None of my dogs appear to know that maneuver, so I am attempting to teach them.

As of now, all three dogs see Kongs as food dishes rather than playthings. Once emptied, the toys lose all interest. Brisbane is not a recreational chewer, they doesn't enjoy gnawing on non-edible toys just for fun. Ulysses is also largely uninterested in gnawing non-food, with the exception of a ball during a game of fetch. Ru loves to chew his Nylabones, and also the occasional dropped wine cork.

The plan so far:

1. Play with the Kongs. This seems really obvious, but the Kong toys spend the vast majority of their time in the freezer, and are rarely on the floor and available for the dogs to play with. Since they are associated with food they could potentially become a source of conflict for Brisbane and Uly. I am addressing these issues by bringing unstuffed Kongs out for individual playtime in the yard. The dogs get to enjoy that unpredictable bouncing feature, and we both get some well-deserved one-on-one time together.

2. Size down. Since I'm trying to introduce the dogs to the concept that Kongs are made of rubber and can be chomped, I want to make things as easy as possible. Both Ulysses and Brisbane fall squarely into the large Kong's 30-65-pound range at 50 and 40 pounds, respectively. The large toy is definitely not a choking hazard, but the small end is still a bit of a stretch to get their back chomping teeth around. I'm comfortable letting them chase and chomp a medium size Kong with supervision.

3. Power down. The black Kongs are the hardest, least flexible, and most durable. The royal blue Kongs are less durable and more flexible while still being tougher than the classic red Kongs. Even softer than that are the purple senior Kongs, and the softest are the pastel blue and pink puppy Kongs. I don't like to admit it, but Brisbane can probably be considered a senior dog now. My vet thinks Uly is around eight years old, and his teeth are very worn, so he also fits the description of senior. I recently acquired (and then ruined) a senior Kong, but I thought I'd go even squishier and try out a baby Kong. (Yes, this is against manufacturer recommendations, and yes, it is potentially risky, however neither of the big boys chews on stuff for fun or tears things up or eats things that aren't food.)

So far, just bouncing a small Kong around the yard convinced Ru that this toy is good for gnawing. Hopefully this improves his toy-emptying performance. Will chasing and fetching a medium-size puppy Kong be enough to get Uly and Briz chewing instead of just licking?

My Kong Marathon is Getting Chewed Up

My dogs aren't serious chewers. Ru is the only one of the three who enjoys recreational chewing, he loves his Nylabones. Brisbane has had some of his food toys for eight or nine years, and used them regularly without any damage. Ulysses is the same way, he is only interested in getting the food out of the toy, and if it's too much work he just gives up. Both dogs have been using the Starmark Everlasting Treat Ball and Bento Ball for several months without doing any damage to the toys.

So why, after only a few uses, does our Kong Marathon ball look like this? Our original Kong Marathon toy was a small blue bone, but I quickly upgraded to a large green ball when I realized the small toys were intended for dogs under 35 pounds. Briz weighs 40 pounds and Uly weighs 50, the large toys are labeled for dogs up to 65 pounds.

It is fortunate that my dogs are gentle chewers with no desire to eat pieces of their toys, because the large Kong Marathon ball is falling apart on us. It's still pretty functional, but I could pull pieces off it with my fingers easily. It may only have a few uses left, which sucks because I've put less than ten treats in it so far.

The ball is put away when not in use, and my dogs don't chew on non-edible stuff for fun. They stop playing with the toy as soon as they get the treat out, if not before. They are normally gentle with their toys, and getting gentler as they age. I am certain our Kong Marathon toy has not been abused, or subjected to more than the most gentle chewing, but it just isn't holding up to normal use.

Product Review: Kong Dental

The Kong Dental is a durable rubber toy with ridges for cleaning teeth. It is hollow and stuffable, and comes in Large and Extra Large sizes.

Photo by Erin Koski

This is currently our oldest Kong, I bought it way back when Brisbane was only a couple of years old and eating premade ground raw food. I used to stuff his meals in sterilized marrow bones, but those were too difficult to clean so I switched to durable rubber toys. This one is amazing because it has an enormous capacity inside, and ours is the smaller of the two sizes. I can stuff it with half a pound of raw meat, or enough peanut butter to make Brisbane puke peanut butter all over the house. That's a feature.

Photo by Erin Koski 

We have large and extra large Classic Kongs, and those are big enough that Briz and Uly can't empty them all the way out. I always end up having to scrub that last bit of peanut butter or sweet potato out of the ends. This Kong doesn't have that problem because both sides are open. The dogs do most of the work so I don't have to scrub it every time I find it under the couch. This Kong went through the dishwasher regularly back when we lived in a house with a dishwasher.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Large capacity with easy access for dogs who can't quite lick all the way to the bottom of a Kong-shaped Kong. Easy-to-carry dumbell shape for throwing and fetching fun. Hella durable, this one has survived at least seven years of relentless dishwashing, freezing, and gnawing.

Cons: Doesn't actually clean teeth. Maybe it would work that way if my dogs were both big enough and inclined to gnaw it like a bone? Doesn't come in ultra-tough black or x-ray opaque blue, only red.

Bottom Line: Definitely a valued part of our Kong collection.

Product Review: Zukes Z-Bones

Zukes Z-Bones are digestible potato-based dental chews. They come in three flavors and four sizes for dogs ten pounds and heavier.

"Hold this Briz, it'll make a nice picture."
Photo by Erin Koski.

A lot of companies are making digestible dental chews these days. I think Greenies were the first ones I heard about, and those originally weren't digestible. After multiple cases of intestinal blockage in dogs that prefer to gobble rather than gnaw their dental chews, Greenies changed their formula to something that wouldn't get stuck. I like to think that, during the Greenies fiasco, other companies took the opportunity to introduce their safer chew bones. Obviously it worked, because Greenies no longer has the market cornered.

"Come on, open your mouth."
Photo by Erin Koski

The Z-Bones are made from potato and peas. They do not contain cornstarch, wheat gluten, or synthetic chlorophyll. Other ingredients include rosemary, fennel, alfalfa, parsley, apples, pumpkin, and cherries. Zukes says the texture of the bones is ideal for polishing teeth. I prefer raw bones to keep Brisbane's teeth white and shiny, but this makes a nice non-perishable chewy treat. Brisbane certainly enjoys them.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Tasty chew bone that freshens breath, available in multiple sizes and in bags as well as individually wrapped. Contains no poultry, egg, wheat, or corn. Helps freshen breath in a relatively clean doggy mouth at least temporarily.

Cons: I don't think these will actually keep a dog's teeth clean even with daily use. The bone is too quickly consumed to have much scrubbing power. Raw bones or daily tooth brushing would be much more effective as eliminating the underlying causes of doggy breath.

Photo by Erin Koski

Bottom Line: This is something I use as an occasional treat to keep my dog busy. Z-Bones are non-perishable, individually wrapped, and not nearly as icky as raw bones or bully sticks. Less effective than the aforementioned animal parts, but also less objectionable in certain circumstances.

How Long Does the Kong Marathon Last?

I recently purchased our second Kong Marathon toy, the first was a small Bone and the new one is a Large Ball. With Kong products I have learned that bigger is better. The bigger the toy, the longer it lasts. The same holds true for the Marathon toys.

Photo by Erin Koski

We have been through several treat refills for our small Kong Marathon toy, and those tend to last 40-pound Brisbane about 10-15 minutes now that he understands how the toy works. He likes to remove the treat from the toy first, and then swallow it.

The Large Ball takes him much longer to empty because it is much too large for him to get his mouth around. Without that leverage, he must spend a significantly longer time licking and gnawing. This makes it a 50+ minute project.

Getting the treat itself into the toy can be a bit tricky. It slides in most of the way and then seems impossible to fit that last edge under the lip of the toy. Kong recommends using a spoon to pop the lip out and over the treat, and that has worked extremely well for me.

Another severely under publicized bit of info about these toys is that they are HOLLOW. I neglected to mention this in my original review because I didn't realize it until I went to refill the toy with a new treat. The fact that the Marathon toys are hollow means they can be used for more than just holding Kong Marathon treats. This puts them on par with the Starmark Everlasting Treat products. Our Small Bong holds at least a quarter cup of kibble, the Large Ball holds at least a cup. I could also smear the innards of these with peanut butter, or stuff in cheese or assorted other goodies before loading up the Marathon treat. I think the toys could also be used as food dispensers without the Kong treat, but putting the treat in the toy means that Brisbane has to chew all the way through that to get to the goodies inside.

Product Review: Blue Kong

The Blue Kong is a rubber chew toy that is durable, flexible, and stuffable. It is 25% stronger than the red Classic Kong, and comes in sizes Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large, and King.

Photo by Erin Koski

The blue Kong is not listed on the official Kong website, and it is supposed to only be available through veterinary clinics. I bought mine on Amazon. Though not as tough as the legendary black Kongs, these things are a lot more flexible and fun to chew. Blue Kongs are also radio opaque, meaning they will show up on xrays if your dog happens to devour them. This makes blue Kongs a better choice for dogs that are choosy about their chew toys, but also power chewers.

My blue Kong lives in the freezer, stuffed full of peanut butter and waiting to be dispensed to an eager dog. Kongs are dishwasher safe and made in the USA.

Pros: More stretchy and flexible than the black Kong, but tougher than the red. Shows up on xrays for dogs that tend to eat their toys. Some dogs may enjoy this texture over the red and black versions. Stuffable, freezable, and a valued part of the Kong family.

Cons: Hard to find except online. Looks a lot like the blue Puppy Kong toys, particularly the squeaky Kong. Not quite as strong as the hard black Kong.

Bottom Line: This is a great toy for power chewers, I like to give it to new dogs while I'm still figuring out their chewing style. Mine is a Large, it is also recommended that seriously destructive dogs be given the largest Kong they can play with safely. As long as the dog can't get their lower jaw stuck in the toy, bigger is better.

Product Review: Classic Kong

The classic Kong is a natural rubber chew toy in a distinctive snowman-type shape. It is durable and hollow in the middle, allowing the toy to be stuffed with edible treats. The Kong is available in six sizes to fit every dog from "that's not even a dog" through "pony".

Photo by Erin Koski

This is the flagship product of a highly successful dog toy company. Today they offer dozens of products for dogs, cats, parrots, and horses. The classic Kong dates back to 1976, when it was inspired by a rubber car part and a dog that liked to chew on rocks. The classic Kong shape is designed to bounce erratically for exciting chasing and play. It is non-abrasive on canine canines, and squishes pleasantly when chomped.

Today the classic Kong is a staple of the dog world. There are a variety of toys made from the original red rubber, from plain fetch balls to dental bones. The original snowman shape has been produced in several different types of rubber, from soft formulas for puppies and seniors, to super-tough materials for power-chewers.

Brisbane isn't a big fan of chasing or fetching the Kong, but for most dogs I know, the value of the toy is in its ability to be stuffed. I can cram this thing full of peanut butter, soaked kibble, wet dog food, cooked sweet potato, bananas, anything Brisbane thinks is worth slurping out of a toy. Freeze it solid, and he will spend at least ten minutes unstuffing it. The bigger the Kong, the bigger the challenge. Brisbane can safely chew a Medium Kong, but I prefer to give him a Large like the one shown here. We also have a couple of Extra Smalls for Ru, but he prefers to hide them in the couch rather than lick the peanut butter out of them.

There is really no limit to the ways a Kong can be used to entertain a dog. At one point the company sold a device that contained four Kongs that could be released at set times to help keep a dog busy for an extended period. I have personally duct taped stuffed Kongs inside several layers of cardboard boxes so that Brisbane had to destroy them in order to get to the food. When he was eating a premade raw diet, I would stuff his meals in them and freeze them so I could hand him one before I left for work in the morning.

Pros: Super durable, long-lasting, and dishwasher safe. Endlessly versatile, smear peanut butter inside, jam a biscuit in sideways, wedge it between the bars of the crate, toss it, bounce it. Use it to construct elaborate puzzles fro the dog to solve.

Cons: I want to say these last forever, but my experience has been that they actually have a lifespan of about 7-8 years of freezing, chewing, and dishwashering before they begin to crack. The decay is pretty obvious though, and it's slow enough that it's easy to tell when it's getting close to time to replace them. I think our Planet Dog Orbees have actually lasted longer than the Kongs. Despite the marketing, many dogs don't find an empty Kong terribly exciting.

Bottom Line: Every dog should have a Kong. I still had Oakley's classic Kong until a year or two ago. We have one Large and two Extra Small classic Kongs that I can find, and a Large and Medium that are currently at large under the furniture somewhere. We also have at least four other Kong rubber toys in various sizes and shapes, along with some of their newer offerings, including some Kong Quest toys and a Kong Marathon. At this point, my response to the news that Kong has made a new toy is "shut up and take my money!" Seriously. Kongs.

Product Review: Bionic Urban Stick

The Bionic Urban Stick is an extremely durable chew toy with stuffable end cavities. It is dishwasher safe, recyclable, and covered by a 30-day guarantee. If your dog manages to destroy this toy, Bionic will trade you for a different one and use your destroyed toy for product research. The Urban Stick comes in four sizes for dogs up to 90 pounds.

Photo by Erin Koski

Brisbane isn't a serious chewer, he doesn't like gnawing on anything that isn't edible. However, I like having nigh-indestructible toys around to give my foster dogs while I figure out what type of chewer I have on my hands. I was totally unaware of the Bionic company until the Urban Stick arrived in our monthly BarkBox. It was one of the first toys I let Ulysses have unsupervised.

Briz thinks the best thing about the Urban Stick is the hollow ends. This makes the toy slightly less durable for super power-chewers. (If your dog succeeds in destroying a Bionic Toy, the company would like to enlist him as a product tester.) Those stuffable ends make this a perfectly stuffable toy, and it is part of the collection of toys that live in my freezer. I stuff the Urban Stick with peanut butter or cheese and let Briz spend all day emptying it.

Pros: This toy is dishwasher safe, recyclable, and it floats. It is durable enough to rank up there with Nylabones and black Kongs.

Cons: Not for insane monster chewers, like pretty much everything out there. The bottoms of the treat wells are pretty narrow and deep, so they're difficult to clean when Briz fails to get that last dab of peanut butter. The guarantee only lasts 30 days and requires a proof of purchase to redeem, so I will be out of luck if a new foster dog destroys this thing.

Bottom Line: I like the Urban Stick and use it regularly. It's one of the few toys I'm willing to give new fosters while I'm figuring out how much they like to chew.

Wholesome Hides are the Best Rawhides

I recently read a 2009 article from the Whole Dog Journal about rawhide chews. Everyone is concerned about imported dog products, especially those from China. I don't buy rawhide chews for Brisbane very often, but I have only ever bought ones that were made in the USA. I knew that imported rawhide has been processed with more chemicals and has a greater chance of being contaminated with something that could hurt my dog.

Photo by Erin Koski

This article, "Finding the Right Rawhide Chew for Your Dog", neatly filled in the gaps in my knowledge and gave me a whole lot more information about rawhide and the process of turning into chew toys. Basically, the USA is the world's largest producer of beef and cow products, so the hides come from here. Domestic manufacturers have access to fresh hides, turning them into dog chews is a fairly simple and straightforward process.

Foreign manufacturers must have hides shipped to them from overseas, and a large part of their dog chew manufacturing process involves first undoing what time and decay have done. This process involves a lot of harsh chemicals and plenty of opportunity for the rawhide to become contaminated. The phrase "black with rot" really stuck with me, apparently "basted" and flavored rawhide chews have been prepared that way to hide the effects of decay. "American" rawhide isn't always safe, either. Often the fine print reveals that the product is actually "made in China from American beefhide" like every other rawhide chew.

Finding domestic rawhide is a good first step, but a chew that is free from processing chemicals is not necessarily safe. The author of the article points out the danger that small chunks of unchewed rawhides pose. Knotted bones almost always have separate, smaller pieces of rawhide forming the knots. Rolls are often a single large piece stuffed with random chunks that are prone to falling out and getting gobbled up.

So which rawhides are the best out there? The article helpfully pointed me toward Wholesome Hides. These are domestically produced, and designed to keep dogs chewing happily and safely for a long time. The rolls are made from one big, fat piece of hide that has been rolled up tightly, so there are no smaller bits that can be easily removed. This makes the chew much more difficult to destroy, and makes dogs work very hard without ever swallowing more than a tiny bit at a time. I originally bought some for Josie, and Brisbane enjoys having a gnaw now and then. He usually ends up scraping his nose.

Product Review: Kong Marathon

The Kong Marathon is a durable chew toy with a space to hold an edible treat. There is a Kong Marathon ball and a Kong Marathon bone, each comes in Large and Small. We have a large bone.

Photo by Erin Koski

Edible chew toys are a great idea for dogs like Brisbane, who refuses to chew anything he can't consume. Recently he briefly chewed a Nylabone for the first time since he was a teething puppy, and I briefly considered the possibility that my dog had been replaced by an impostor. The problem is that edible chews are basically quick snack for Briz, Greenies, those edible Nylabones, and even bully sticks basically get chewed up and swallowed within minutes.

Starmark's Everlasting Treat toys were the first ones I saw that combined a long-lasting edible chew with a non-edible toy that made it impossible to just chew and swallow the food part.

Photo by Erin Koski

I heard about the Kong Marathon toys while reading about the 2014 Global Pet Expo, and they sounded like the same concept as Starmark's toys. I knew we had to try this one too. Since Brisbane is already familiar with this edible-bone-inside-toy concept, he already knew what he was doing.

We took these pictures right after opening up the package and handing Briz the bone. He nibbled the edible bone a bit, and then gave the whole thing a gnaw. The idea is that dogs will chew the whole bone or ball in order to get some of the tasty treat inside.

The reality is that Brisbane immediately figured out that the treat could be removed if he really worked at it. He then spent 10-15 minutes working on this project before succeeding in popping half the bone loose. This was immediately chewed and swallowed, followed by the other half.

Pros: This is a high-value food item that kept Brisbane's attention until he got all of it. It's rewarding enough to keep him working at it, and it obviously tastes good. The refills are probably going to cost about the same as the Everlasting treats.

Cons: It's softer than our Everlasting stuff and didn't actually last very long, only about 15 minutes total. I wouldn't leave this alone with any dog until I was confident they would stop chewing once they'd finished eating all the food. Getting the fresh treats popped in is a little difficult.

Bottom Line: I won't be feeding Brisbane one of these treats every day, but it will definitely be joining his collection of treats that I hand him as a walk out the door.

Scraped Nose?

Brisbane has a tendency to scrape his nose on certain chews. I have no idea how he manages this exactly, and am open to suggestions. It has happened with large rawhide bones, and also with dried beef tracheas, but not with bully sticks of any size, or rawhide retriever rolls.

Long suffering dog patiently suffers.

I could understand if Brisbane was scraping up the front of his nose, or the sides. I could understand is he was accidentally clawing his own face. I keep watching him while he chews, but I absolutely cannot figure out how Briz manages to scrape the top of his nose.

Ideas?

Product Review: Nylabones

Nylabones are synthetic non-edible chew bones, the company also makes edible bones. They come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Photo by Erin Koski

Ru loves Nylabones like nothing else. He is an avid recreational chewer, and spends a decent amount of time each day happily gnawing these things. We have the full range of sizes around the house, but Brisbane won't chew anything that isn't edible, and Josie was equally unenthused. Ru has claimed all the Nylabones for himself.

We probably have well over a dozen of these things around the house, because Ru just isn't happy with a single Nylabone. He needs to have a pile of at least three or four, so he can lay atop them like a dragon on his hoard before he begins gnawing. He also enjoys burying them between the couch cushions, and they end up all over the house so I need to replenish his supply frequently.

Ru's Nylabone collection includes some opaque Daily Dental Durable bones, a Durachew textured ring bone, several spiky Dental bones, many clear Flexichew bones, and a pink Durable wishbone that is probably his favorite. Our foster chihuahua, Candy, was a much more powerful chewer and gnawed the knobs off a few of the Nylabones, but Ru doesn't chew pieces off them so I'm letting him keep them. The Durachew Ring bone hasn't gotten much love.

Nylabones claim to be flavored, some of them are supposed to taste like chicken, others like bacon. I haven't noticed any odor whatsoever, and even ventured a lick because I am ridiculous. They taste like nothing to me.

I wanted to get Ru a Nylabone Dental Dinosaur because I love dinosaurs, but there were so many Amazon reviews about dogs cracking teeth on them that I decided to pass.

Pros: Durable chews for dogs that love to gnaw. These come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes, and the petite chihuahua-sized ones are quite cheap. The harder ones were irresistible for my tiny power-chewing foster-uahuah. Other brands of durable chew bones are somehow not as compelling, it has to be a Nylabone.

Cons: Not all dogs like chewing plastic, or Nyla, or whatever these things are made of. I've heard stories of crazy dogs snapping them in half and eating them, so I would be careful to supervise a new dog with one. Nylabones are quite noisy when playing fetch on a hardwood floor.

Bottom Line: For dogs that love to chew for fun, nothing beats a Nylabone. They are cheap, easy to find, and appropriate for a wide range of dogs. I expect to be finding them in my couch for many years to come.

Puzzle Toy: SafeMade Biggie Bone

The SafeMade Biggie Bone is a stuffable toy shaped like a bone. This toy is not only freezer-safe, it is also oven-safe, something I can't say for any of our other toys. Since the Biggie Bone is from SafeMade, it's also toddler-safe, and infant-safe, and grandma-safe.

Stuffed with love, also peanut butter.

I like the size of the stuffing chamber in the Biggie Bone, it's cylindrical and goes all the way through the toy. A bit small for most biscuits, but it can be easily stuffed with sweet potato, banana, and peanut butter. I could also fill it with kibble and seal the ends with peanut butter. This is not something I would have purchased myself, but it came in this month's BarkBox and I feel obligated to give it a fair chance.

The concept of the SafeMade company is pretty good, basically everything they sell is safety tested for everybody in your house. We know that some imported dog toy tennis balls contain very high amounts of lead, and babies will put anything in their mouths. I solve this issue by not buying imported tennis balls, especially ones specifically marketed for pets. I also don't have a baby, and I might be more concerned about my dog toys being safe for babies if I had one and/or lost my mind.

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 3/5

It's not cavernous, but bigger than it looks.

Loading Speed: 4/5

No curves or nooks to load, just shove stuff in.

Unloading Speed: 5/5

I gave this to Brisbane yesterday and he still hasn't gotten all the peanut butter out of the center.

Size: 4/5

These come in three sizes, we have the largest one. It's pretty big, but I wouldn't give it to a giant dog or a power-chewer.

Noise: 5/5

Blissfully silent.

Locatability: 4/5

Doesn't roll, but the dark color can make it hard to spot if it ends up behind the couch.

Washability: 5/5

Dishwasher-safe, of course. The lack of curves and corners makes it really easy to scrub.

Hoardability: 2/5

Exciting enough to drag off to the lair, but boring once empty. SafeMade makes a lot of non-stuffable chew toys that Briz would find completely useless because he doesn't chew anything that doesn't involve food.

Total: 32/45

Not a bad product, this one has joined my collection of stuffable toys that live in the freezer. Still haven't tried baking anything into it, though.