Stuff We Destroyed: December Edition

It's time for the monthly roundup of stuff that didn't survive the month! When I first started this blog, none of my dogs were destructive. Brisbane had toys that lasted most of his 11 years. Josie didn't care much for toys in general. Ru has never destroyed anything in his life. The current crop of dogs are much harder on their toys, and I'm delighted to have the opportunity to put product durability to the test.

I've been in denial for a while, but I'm beginning to suspect that Zip is a power chewer. She doesn't really set out to demolish toys, but she does like to pause for the occasional gnaw while fetching. She hasn't really gone for any of our toughest toys yet, but she has managed to fetch quite a few of our fairly tough toys to death.

That's the Spunky Pup Fetch & Glow Ball up front with the hole. It's sitting in the curled remains of the Chuckit Floppy Tug, which was remarkably short-lived for a toy advertised as "tough".

The leather Aussie Naturals Squeaky Bacon toy sat neglected at the bottom of the toy bin for two years, until Zip decided it had to die. Planet Dog's Mazee, the Amaze-Ball, developed a tear at the opening, and then Zip and Sis decided to pull the maze out of the ball. I got Sisci Godzilla a Cycle Dog 3 Play happy hippo for her birthday, and someone promptly chewed a leg off. Our Nite Ize Glowstreak LED ball developed some tears in the flexible ball material, and then the entire plug that holds in the light popped off one night.

Way in the back there is our original decade-old Starmark Treat Dispensing Chew Ball. RIP. I'm pretty sure the newer material is a bit tougher. There's also a de-stuffed Mighty stegasaurus, our P.L.A.Y. king crab, a Kyjen Plush Puppies stuffed octopus that was older than Ru, and the carcass of a stuffed reindeer from last Christmas.

We also lost some gear this year, casualties of lure coursing and camping. Sisci Godzilla sometimes gets so excited in her crate that she drags in and shreds anything in reach. She got a hold of her ComfortFlex Sport harness at a lure coursing event and shredded it into many pieces. Godzilla has also taken to biting through leashes when excited, so mostly we're using steel cables these days. I got her a tug leash to match the harness, and left her tied up for a few minutes while setting up camp in the redwoods. So long, leash!

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.