Product Review: Starmark Everlasting Treat Ball

The Starmark Everlasting Treat Ball is a durable rubber chew toy designed to hold two of Starmark's Everlasting Treats. It comes in three sizes to fit every dog.

Photo by Erin Koski

I bought Brisbane an Everlasting Treat Ball when he was a puppy. It was the first Starmark toy I had  ever seen, and I loved it. Brisbane was a bit on the fence, though. He loves Everlasting Treats, but putting them in a toy makes them somehow less attractive. The center of the ball has a chamber for holding kibble and other small treats, and Briz is also unenthusiastic about retrieving those treats.

The Everlasting Treat Ball comes in small, medium, and large sizes, and the medium size is intended for dogs under 40 pounds. Brisbane's ideal weight is 40 pounds, and Ulysses is currently around 42 pounds, so the two of them can use medium and large Starmark toys. Brisbane's original medium Everlasting Treat Ball gave us 5 years of service before it went missing in action. We now have two large Everlasting Treat Balls. So far they are more durable than the Everlasting Bento Ball and our extremely short-lived Everlasting Fire Plug. I can fit nearly a quarter cut of kibble inside of them. Neither Brisbane nor Ulysses thinks a chicken Everlasting Treat is worth gnawing out of them except in the most desperate circumstances, but vanilla, hickory, or liver flavors are worth more consideration.

Starmark has lots of suggestions for making their toys more challenging and exciting. If my boys were serious chewers and pros at popping the treats loose from the ball, I could put the Everlasting Treats in upside down to give them a new problem to solve. There are also Everlocking Treats made from the same material, but with a threaded treat rod to prevent the treat discs from popping out at all.

Pros: Extremely durable, has not developed any of the cracks found around the edges of our Bento Ball. Holds two Everlasting Treat chews plus additional goodies in the center. Holds up to all but the heaviest chewers. Dishwasher safe. I believe that even tiny power chewers can play with the large size safely.

Cons: Presents enough of a challenge that my dogs don't always consider the Everlasting Treat chew a big enough reward, so the ball and treat sit around untouched until I do something drastic like pour fish oil on it. Dedicated toy demolishers can probably demolish this one with enough effort, so it needs to be a supervision-only toy until the owner is comfortable with the way their dog plays with the toy. Treat refills can be expensive and non-chicken flavors can be hard to find in stores. I have to order Everlocking Treats online.

Bottom Line: I obviously like this toy enough to have bought a second one. It's handy to have around, especially for foster dogs as I determine their chewing style and which toys they can play with safely. Not as tough as a Black Kong, but definitely high on the durability scale. Power chewers should always size up, and I sometimes wish there was a extra large Everlasting Treat Ball.

Brisbane and the Window

In the front room of my house there is a 4' wide, 3' tall plate glass window. Below that window sits the couch, where the dogs spend a good chunk of their day lounging. The back of the couch is the perfect place for Ru and the cats to catch the late afternoon sun's rays. My house is perpetually decorated for Halloween, and this includes bat decals on the windows. I've always loved those bat stickers, and now I have one more reason to appreciate them.

Photo by Erin Koski

About three weeks ago, I arrived home from work to find a trail of bloody pawprints leading to the window. The glass was cracked all the way across in multiple places, and was hanging in the frame. The only thing holding it together was my beloved bat stickers, which had prevented Brisbane from going through the window and seriously injuring himself. Instead, he had some sort of minor injury that I never located. By the time I got home for work, the bleeding had stopped and I could only find a tiny scrape on one of his feet.

My immediate response to this event was to begin crating Brisbane whenever he was unattended, crating him when the mailman or delivery people were most likely to send him into a barking frenzy, and moving the couch a couple of feet away from the wall so he could not leap full-force against the glass. I also had the pane replaced as quickly as possible, $200 later we have thicker glass and no more bats. Since I was already crating and rotating Brisbane and Ulysses, this wasn't a huge change in our daily routine.

Photo by Erin Kosk

While discussing the whole situation with various behavior and training enthusiasts, someone brought up the possibility of putting him on medication. Brisbane and I walked half a block to his vet and jotted down a quick note asking about a prescription for something like Prozac. A few minutes after we left, Dr. Rugg called back to say that she had already written him a prescription.

Three weeks after starting the medication, Brisbane no longer loses his mind at the mere sight of the United States Postal Service logo. Now he actually has to be on the same block and within a few houses of the actual mail carrier before he reacts. Briz can actually settle and relax around other dogs, he takes naps when I take him to daycare with me instead of screaming all day. While he still barks at the occasional skateboarder, he doesn't turn into a raving psychodog and flood his system with stress hormones. It feels like nine years of training has suddenly clicked into place, and all of the ways I've taught him to manage stress suddenly make sense for him.

The effect has been rather dramatic, and has certainly taken some getting used to. Brisbane has always been a clever problem-solver, but he no longer gets frustrated to the point of screambarking when he can't immediately figure out what I want. Shortly before the Prozac and the window incident, Brisbane also began limping intermittently, and with the lack of hysterics it feels almost like he has aged suddenly. We'll get to the bottom of the lameness so we can go back to Brisbane's normal wild activities soon.

Product Review: Black Extreme Kong

The Black Extreme Kong is a durable rubber chew toy by the Kong Company. It comes is several different shapes, including that of the Classic Red Kong. The Extreme Kong is available in five sizes to fit every dog.

Photo by Erin Koski

I purchased our Black Extreme Kong is size XL specifically for my foster dogs. Most of our Kongs are classic red rubber, and size Large. The larger the Kong, the more durable it is, and the company recommends sizing up for dogs that destroy what appears to be an appropriately sized toy. For many power chewers, the black Kongs are the only toys they can enjoy safely.

Brisbane doesn't chew destructively, and only cares about his Kongs when they contain edible things, but I never know what a fresh-from-the-shelter foster dog is going to do when I give them a toy for the first time. Ulysses has been similarly cautious with the food and chew toys, but he could have been an insane power chewer, and devoured the first toy I handed him. Our black Kong is the largest and most durable Kong he can play with safely, and the first few times I carefully supervised him while he licked peanut butter out of it. Uly is getting the hang of the food toys finally, just this week he learned to chomp hard on the Urban Stick to break up biscuits inside. It's possible he will eventually become a destructive chewer, but for now I feel safe giving him nearly anything.

Avoiding chew toys small enough to present a choking hazard is pretty easy for most of us, but fewer dog owners know how to tell when a toy is too large for a dog to play with safely. Some are obvious dangers, like the bigger Starmark Bob-a-Lot being large enough to crush Ru. Others are more subtle, like the hole in TrteaStik puzzle toy, which is large enough to trap the lower jaws of some small dogs. The hole in Kong toys should be too small for an appropriately-sized dog to get their jaw caught, but when sizing up this can become a problem. The XL-sized Kongs are the largest that Brisbane and Ulysses can safely play with, I feel that the XXL size could be dangerous. This isn't a particularly common problem, but when it happens it is terrifying for the dog and can result in injuries. The dog may have to be taken to the vet and sedated so the toy can be cut away. It's not something I'm willing to risk, so I stick to the XL and smaller Kongs.

Pros: Super-duper durable! Often the only toy a truly destructive dog can play with. Made in the USA, and dishwasher safe.

Cons: It's made out of very strong rubber, so it smells like old tires when new. I had to wash it a couple of times and then leave it sitting on the windowsill for a couple of weeks before it stopped being so gross. The hard rubber is less enjoyable to chew for dogs that like the flexible action of the original and blue Kongs. Black color makes it hard to locate on black crate trays and under the couch.

Bottom Line: This is the first chew toy I present a new foster dog with, if they destroy it I know I am dealing with a serious power chewer. The vast majority of dogs will not be able to pull chunks off this and swallow them, but I'm going to supervise just in case. What is more durable than a black Kong? Goughnuts are the only toys I am aware of.