Thursday, March 7, 2013

Product Review: Tuffie Toys

Elka loves toys dearly, and currently that includes squeaky toys as well. Her love is not a gentle one, however. Any stuffed toy that has fallen into her tender mercies has been loved to death in fairly short order. Once there is a hole in the material, or a split in the seam, the game turns into the removal of stuffing from the toy (which I may have brought upon myself, really....all of those Kongs....).

I received a Tuffie toy with Tuffness rating 10 (that's the Tuffest, folks) in one of my Pets Love Toys boxes. Happily, it was a squid, making it odd and interesting, and reminding me of Cthuhlu.

I first gave this toy to Elka way back at Christmas, where she has (supervised) access to it for pretty much an entire day. Minimal damage was done to it in that span of time, which impressed me.

Of course, Elka pretty much thinks that every toy is a "sharing toy" rather than a "play by yourself" toy.


I put it on the floor enough times, though, and she figured it out.


There was much dancing, and shaking. 


Also some vigorous tugging.


Also chewing.



Always some chewing.


The design flaw in the Tuffie squid is definitely the tentacles. Since that time, Elka has gone to work chewing a bunch of those off. Unlike the rest of the superstitched toy, the tentacles are stitched to the toy itself, but then kind of single-layer woven nylon on their own. The removal of the tentacles hasn't made any holes to the stuffing in the toy, so really it's just been an aesthetic issue. The structural integrity hasn't been affected.


For the most part, the squid lives on top of the refrigerator, to make it last that much longer. Elka goes in the kitchen and sings to it sometimes, though, and she does get to play with it. Nothing lasts forever, after all.


Elka has loved this toy, and it has lasted a decent amount of time, albeit supervised. Really, though, the only toys that go unsupervised in this house are tough rubber ones that have already had their initial interactions vetted. I expect Elka to destroy stuffed toys; it's timeline that interests me. I've been very happy with this Tuffie toy! Peeking at the Tuffie Toys website, they also have a Dog Park Backpack which looks very cool and inclusive! 


(FTC disclosure: I received my Tuffie toy, for free, as a part of a sample box giveaway. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.)






8 comments:

  1. This looks really cool. Our first Greyhound, Paloma, was just like Elka. I never found a toy she couldn't destroy...and fast. Freedom, Casper and Nikki (all three) are the complete opposite. They hardly ever destroy a toy. It makes buying toys a bit more fun, although I did marvel at Paloma's ingenuity.

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  2. We have the same problem with stuffed toys. Beamer will locate the squeaker on a stuffed toy and then remove it with surgical precision. Glad you've found one that's (sort of) lasted Elka!

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  3. Blueberry hardly touches her stuffies ever since the foster puppy went to his forever home. It's really weird because my last dog could destroy a toy no matter how tough within 5 minutes. So I am not used to having so many intact stuffies lying around.

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  4. It's funny, with my guys they can go forever without destroying a toy and then BAM one day, they just let loose. Personally it doesn't bother me to have them destroy the toy, I'd much rather that than a pair of shoes!

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  5. We love Tuffy toys. The only toys our dogs can't destroy in one sitting. We have the ultimate boomerang and also the Jr. Dog bone. We love them so much that we sell them on our website. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Anything hanging off a toy is just asking to be chewed off. The only plush squeaky toy Honey hasn't destroyed is shaped like a doughnut. The shape prevents her from getting a good hold on it.

    I've stopped buying stuffed dog toys. None of them are tough enough. Instead, I just buy stuffies at the salvation army. Sure they'll die fairly quickly but they only cost a buck or two.

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  7. Proof the taffy toy is good!
    Benny & Lily

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  8. Kyuss is a master as toy destruction. It takes him very little time to scissor his way into a toy and remove it's innards. Maybe I'll have to give this toy a try out and see how long it lasts with my dobie-rex. =]

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