Product Review: Ruffwear Turnup

The Ruffwear Turnup is a bouncy fetch toy made from natural rubber. It is durable, floats, and has a hole for stuffing treats inside.

Photo by Erin Koski

When the Turnup first arrived, I was skeptical. The rubber felt flimsy, and the packaging came with a warning that it was not intended to be chewed. With two big holes in it, surely it must sink!

I'm pleased to report that the Turnup massively exceeded my expectations. I holds up just fine to Brisbane's OCD chomping. It does float, though not very high in the water. It also can be filled with kibble, and it's plenty tough.

Pros: Fits in a Chuckit ball launcher! Bounces erratically! Holds up way better than a tennis ball and doesn't get all slimy and gross.

Cons: Only comes in standard tennis ball size, so may present a choking hazard for larger dogs. Cost 4x the price of an Ultraball.

Bottom Line: It probably won't replace our marvelous orange Chuckit ball, but this is definitely a worthwhile investment for dogs who destroy tennis balls.

What is your dog's favorite fetch toy?

Product Review: Sprong Cone and Dome

The Sprong Cone and Dome is a foam-filled squeaky ball with a fuzzy velvet texture. The manufacturer's website doesn't say that Sprong toys float, but the packaging for ours specifically mentioned it. Our Sprong is a large Cone and Dome, there are a dozen different shapes to choose from, and several of those come in different sizes. Sprongs come in a ton of different colors.

Photo by Erin Koski

These things are kind of cool and unique, I haven't found anything with this texture before, and I love the fun shapes. I don't think there are any other toys out there like this. I particularly like the fuzzy velvet texture, I've always found foam-filled smooth latex toys to feel kind of weird. The Sprong has a great squeak, not terribly long or annoying or loud.

Briz isn't totally in love with the Sprong, but he'll play with it if I initiate. We actually have it because Josie picked it out at work. She was a shameless shoplifter, and it was usually easier to just buy the bully stick or rawhide she grabbed rather than pry it out of her mouth. This was the only non-edible toy she ever showed an interest in, so I immediately purchased it. She ignored the Sprong from then on, apparently toys are only fun when they aren't ours.

Sprong toys are made by R2P, Ready2Play. The company actually owns quite a few pet brands, but I've never encountered any of the others before. It's possible I just haven't noticed, I'll be watching for them now because I'm kind of strange like that. There is also a cat line of Sprong toys specifically intended for nighttime play when cats tend to find the most obnoxious object in the house to bat around. For my cats, that thing is a small and extremely resonant piece of metal that fell off a windchime.

Pros: Fun-to-squish texture, firm yet supple. Fuzzy surface reminiscent of those furry My Little Ponies that were such dirt-magnets. Tolerable volume and pitch when squeaked. Lots of fun colors and shapes and sizes. Visually appealing to humans. Pretty darned durable, ours spent several months laying out in the yard in the sun, got peed on, and still scrubbed up quite nicely.

Cons: Probably not super durable for destructo-dogs. Might be more fun for humans than dogs, probably shouldn't leave within reach of toddlers.

Bottom Line: If my dogs loved these we would be swimming in them. I've been very impressed with the one we have. The dogs don't find it nearly as attractive as ratty old tennis balls for some reason. Anyway, I think it looks really cool so it can lay around on the floor with the Mighty Dinosaurs as part of my decor.

Product Review: Chuckit! Bumper

The Canine Hardware Chuckit! Bumper is a fetch toy equipped with a short rope that allows it to be thrown long distances. It is soft and comfortable for the dog to bite, and floats.

Photo by Erin Koski, photobomb by Ru.

The Chuckit! Bumper is perfect for beach play. The rope allows me to fling it far out into the waves, and the color makes it easy for Brisbane to spot in the surf. As an added bonus, the shape makes it look like a stick of dynamite.

The bumper is soft enough for Brisbane to catch without hurting his mouth. It doesn't soak up water, and it's solid foam so a hole doesn't mean it will fill up with water and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker. After the beach I just have to thwack the bumper on the ground a couple of times to remove the sand from it.

I bought the bumper at Dioji because I wanted a pool toy for Briz and I had forgotten about the Chuckit! disc we already had. Unlike the Zipflight disc, Brisbane does not feel the need to rip chunks out of the bumper.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: The bumper is brightly colored and floats high in the water, so it's easier to spot than a ball. It's also big enough that even giant dogs can enjoy retrieving it without the risk of choking. The rope makes it easy to throw the bumper pretty darned far.

Cons: The bumper doesn't fly quite as far as a ball thrown with the Chuckit! launcher, which is why it is not our default fetch toy. There's really the most negative thing I can say about it.

Photo by Erin Koski

Bottom Line: The Chuckit! bumper is my first choice for aquatic adventures because it flies far and is easy for Brisbane to find in the pool, lake, or ocean. The rope makes it easy to toss, and fun for dogs to shake and kill. This toy still looks brand new after quite a lot of throwing, catching, biting, shaking, and killing.

Product Review: Planet Dog Orbees

The Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff balls are made from flexible rubber. The Planet Dog product line-ip has changed a bit in the last few years, but the quality of their products remains the same.

We have a 4.25" diameter Orbee ball with a hole in it, and two Orbos. The Orbo is a lot like the original Kong toy. These things are extremely durable; mine went through the dishwasher a bunch of times back when we had a dishwasher. I used to stuff Bravo raw dog food into the Orbos and freeze them.

The Orbos have two chambers, the large bottom and the small top, connected by a narrow passage. Getting peanut butter, ground meat, or cooked sweet potato into that smaller chamber can be difficult, but it is equally difficult to get the goodies back out. I've found Brisbane slurping peanut butter out of these things days later.

We used to have several more Planet Dog toys: another big ball, an Orbee-Tuff ball with with a rope handle, an eggplant, and an artichoke. The artichoke was difficult to clean. The eggplant eventually began cracking, and I'm not sure what happened to the other big ball.

The Orbo is supposed to have an unpredictable bounce, but Brisbane has very little use for them once they are empty. I like to fill the big ball with kibble for Josie, who is a bit slower and takes half an hour or more to empty it.

Pros: These things are tough as hell. They outlasted my classic Kongs and are still going strong after at least seven years. The two-chamber shape of the Orbo also makes them much harder to empty than a Kong. I wish they were still on the market as I would happily buy a few more. The large ball makes a wonderful and quiet slow-feeder for my elderly dog. It is large enough that it doesn't get lost under the furniture.

Cons: The two-chamber design of the Orbo makes it very difficult to clean, and sometimes I find a nasty surprise down there.

Bottom Line: We use the Planet Dog Orbee-Tuff toys pretty much every day. When they're not being hoarded inside a crate, they are in the freezer stuffed with peanut butter.

Product Review: Premier Pogo Plush

The Premier Pogo Plush is a stuffed squeaky toy with a unique design. Inside the body of the toy there is a flexible rubber cage instead of stuffing. This cage contains a squeaker that rattles around inside the toy.

This is actually one of Ru's favorite toys, but Brisbane plays better for the camera. The Pogo is a different design than the popular "skinny" stuffies that just have a squeaker inside and nothing else. The animal-shaped toys have tails that flap around when the dogs shake them wildly. We've had the raccoon for about three years, and it held up remarkably well until this photo shoot, when Briz pulled the rubber cage out of it. He finds it interesting because the squeaker isn't always in the same place, so the Find the Squeak game remains interesting.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Pretty durable, held up for quite a while and didn't become an Unstuffing Challenge once the stitching was breached. Continues to squeak after a couple of years. Definitely a toy that prompted spontaneous play.

Cons: The stitching eventually gave out on the bottom and Brisbane was able to disassemble it, to his extreme satisfaction. I personally didn't find this toy particularly cute, it was sort of faceless and weird. Briz didn't think it was quite as much fun to bite as the average squeaky toy.

Bottom Line: More durable and less messy than the average squeaky stuffy. We enjoyed it, and I will probably sew it up again.

Product Review: Plush Puppies Invincibles

Plush Puppies Invincibles are squeaky plush toys by Kyjen. Unlike most squeaky toys, these keep squeaking when punctured.

Photo by Erin Koski

We have had this toy for several years now, and it's one of Ru's favorites so it sees a lot of action until it is inevitably lost under the couch again. My dogs aren't terribly hard on toys, but once a stuffy has been breached its days are numbered. Brisbane thoroughly enjoys unstuffing his toys. I'd buy him the kind that don't contain stuffing, but I'd feel guilty stealing that joy from him.

Photo by Erin Koski

Ru loves this toy more than Brisbane, but he doesn't actually squeak it. He likes to instigate games of tug, and race around the house dragging the snake. Sometimes he grabs it and spins around until it rests over his back, then wears it around the house like that.

Photo by Erin Koski

Our Invincibles snake is an earlier model than the ones currently available, it doesn't have Extreme Seams. It has held up just fine, however. It is a six-squeak snake, and all six segments still squeak just as advertised. This is awesome because non-squeaking toys just aren't that exciting.



Pros: Continues to squeak indefinitely. Goes through the washer and dryer and comes out looking new. Apparently great fun to shake wildly. Has no visible damage after several years of play. Is cute, durable, and washable enough that I haven't gotten tired of seeing it around the house.

Cons: Continues to squeak indefinitely. This one doesn't set off Brisbane's OCD tendency to squeak nonstop for 30 minutes, but if it did we'd have a problem.

Bottom Line: The Invincibles snake probably wouldn't hold up to a dog that eats stuffies for breakfast, but it definitely works as advertised. My mildly-destructive dogs have yet to kill the squeak in this one, and that's impressive. They also continue to enjoy it every time I fish it out from under the couch again.

Product Review: Midnight Pet Lite and E-Z Harness and Leash

The "Lite and E-Z" is a step-in style harness and leash by Midnight Pet, made from parachute-weight cord.

Photo by Erin Koski

Unlike the vast majority of paracord pet gear, these are made from a single strand of cord so they are incredibly light. The harness is super easy to adjust, and simple in design. It's significantly less confusing than the average step-in harness. They come in a variety of colors, and five different sizes. Midnight Pet recommends them for ferrets, rabbits, cats, iguanas, puppies, and of course tiny dogs. The leash comes in 3', 4' and 6' lengths.

I love this harness so much that I rarely use anything else on Ru. The leash is super thin and tiny and really enhances that rat-on-a-string look. It would probably also work well as a show lead, and is strong enough that I've used the loop end to make a slip lead for catching loose dogs.

Photo by Erin Koski

The Lite and E-Z harness is minimalist enough for fashionistas like Ru. When he isn't wearing his Yap Wrap coat, I like to have something fabulous on him. He is usually on a leash, and I love having a harness that lets his outfit shine. We had to do these pictures with him undressed because the harness blends so flawlessly with whatever he is wearing.

The hardware used on these products is so light, it's practically jewelry. The top of the harness stays centered and never slides to the side. The fit always seems perfect, whether Ru is wearing a thick puffy jacket or going au naturel. I bought these at the Pet House in Goleta, and I didn't realize that the metal slides under the rings adjusted until I saw the Midnight Pet website while writing this post.

We actually have two of these, the one shown is Grape, and the other is Raspberry colored. I bought the second when I had a chihuahua foster dog and found I couldn't live without it. The pink set was purchased a couple of years before the purple, and the leash was sometimes difficult to unclip from the harness. I was extremely pleased to see that the purple harness has slightly thinner rings, and the leash a slightly larger clip.

Photo by Erin Koski

Pros: Super light, minimalist harness that is very easy to use and simple to adjust. Light enough to stay in place and not rotate around the dog. Works beautifully over clothes. Holds up well on hikes and other adventures, with no signs of wear to date. Totally comfortable, the dog barely notices it. Very affordable, I think I paid around $25 for a harness and 6' leash.

Cons: The super-thin leash could be uncomfortable to hold on a dog that generates any sort of pulling power. I'm not sure how well it would stand up to chewing. My pink one is starting to look a little dirty after a few years, I should probably try washing it.

Bottom Line: I use this every single day and constantly tell people where I got it. If it were to fail spectacularly tomorrow, I would immediately go out and buy another one.

Puzzle Toy! Treat Jack

Brisbane didn't eat out of a bowl for the first few years of his life. I firmly believe that just handing a dog a bowl of food is a waste of a perfectly good opportunity for enrichment. Briz is incredibly intelligent, and defeats most food toys in a matter of minutes. I like to keep him busy by trying new and different toys whenever I find them.

This is the Grriggles FUNdamentals Treat Jack. It is made from sturdy nylon (or maybe plastic, not totally sure there
is actually a difference) and is not tooth-cracking hard. It kind of reminds me of a Nylabone. Each side has triangular flaps forming a half sphere. The flaps are somewhat flexible, but didn't bend enough for me to shove a California Naturals biscuit through them. I could wedge the cookie halfway in. I could also drop pieces of kibble through the flaps without needing to bend them. I'm not entirely certain I could stuff this thing with peanut butter without getting it everywhere.

I originally shoved a couple of biscuits in the thing so they were sticking out. Brisbane rolled the toy around for a few minutes before picking it up by one of its arms and taking it to his livingroom lair. He had it emptied in maybe a minute. Next I tried a few pieces of kibble, he rolled it around and found that they fell out with minimal effort. Again, emptied in minutes. This is a nice quiet toy, we have some hard plastic kibble-dropping toys that are incredibly noisy so this was a nice change.

The Treat Jack doesn't have much capacity, it might take a quarter cup of kibble at most, dropped in one piece at a time. Capacity and loading versus unloading time are my biggest considerations for puzzle toys. Can I fit an entire meal in it? Does it take more time for me to fill then it does for the dog to empty it? This partly depends on the dog.

Josie was my next product tester, she spent several minutes sniffing and licking the toy before she experimented with nosing it around the floor. Once she discovered that it dropped food, she spent ten minutes carefully rolling the jack and eating the kibble one piece at a time. Josie has a very thoughtful and logical approach to food toys, and if getting the food out is too difficult she is likely to give up. I kind of assume this is what life is like with a normal dog. Brisbane is more of a frantic dog-genius who can empty anything in mere moments and quickly gets frustrated if he can't figure it out instantly. Obviously different toys get different results for these two. Meanwhile, Ru will barely eat enough to survive when coaxed, bribed, and forced. If he had to work for it he'd probably just starve.

Puzzle Toy Rating

Capacity: 1/5
This is about a small as it gets.

Loading Speed: 1/5
One. Kibble. At. A. Time.

Unloading Speed (standard dog): 3/5
Not bad.

Unloading Speed: (superdog): 1/5
Took longer to stuff than it did for him to empty.

Durability: 4/5
Ru the chihuahua is my only recreational chewer so this is really just a guess. I suspect a really powerful chewer would have those little arms off in a few minutes, but otherwise is seems pretty sturdy.

Size: 4/5
If Ru cared about puzzle toys he could probably manage to enjoy this one, and it didn't seem undersized for Josie either. I wouldn't give it to a power-chewing bulldog or a Great Dane.

Noise: 5/5
Brisbane brought it out to join us while we were watching a movie and the toy was totally silent while he rolled it around.

Locatability: 5/5
Briz carried it around a bit, but it isn't going to roll under the furniture and disappear forever.

Total: 24/40
I'm not going to be feeding meals out of this thing, or expecting it to hold their attention in a stressful situation, but it's a novely that can keep them quietly occupied for a few minutes at least.