Wordless Wednesday July 1 2015

Product Review: Surprise My Pet Box

I was approached by Surprise My Pet to do a product review of one of their subscription boxes. I haven't yet personally committed to an ongoing subscription box of my (or Elka's) very own, but I love the principle of them, and they're always fun to try.

Surprise My Pet was no different.

We got the box and I set it on the floor for Elka to peruse. She promptly nosed it, because that's how she interacts with most things, so I apologize for the blurry action shot.

Product Review: Nerf Dog

Now that Elka is okay with squeaky toys, I'm always on the lookout for something that will both occupy her and last longer than five minutes. When I saw that Nerf had dog toys, I was optimistic. Perhaps too optimistic?

I tried a fetching orange and blue one first, the Nerf Dog Crunchable Ball, Blue. After that, we did the Nerf Dog Squeaker Football, Red/Black.

Can you guess which one lasted longer?

photo from Amazon.com

vs. 

Toy Review: Tuffy Toy Mega Octopus

Last week I whined about Twitter, and this week I'll praise it, at least a little. See, this post wouldn't have happened were it not for Twitter. I've reviewed a Tuffie toy in the past, the squid, and I follow the company on Twitter. I happened to notice they Tweeted a coupon code (10% off I think?) and I retweeted, and went to bed. The next morning I had a DM: they'd made a sale from my RT, would I like a Tuffie toy for Elka? Of course I would!

And so we got the octopus (Tuffy Mega Creature Small Octopus Dog Toy, Tiger Print ). Elka seems to like a toy that smacks her in the face while she shakes it, I don't know why. My dog is weird.

"That dog sure is spoiled!"

I don't get a comment like that a lot, once in awhile, in casual conversation, somebody refers to Elka as "spoiled". Arguably, that's a pretty rude thing to say, but she's just a dog, right?

Anyway. Is Elka spoiled? I think it's kind of in the eye of the beholder.

Dogs make their own fun

There's no telling what toys Elka will like and play with, and what toys she'll hate.

The Unbreakoball is a great example. It certainly hasn't broken, because she hates it. Hilariously.

She likes squeaky toys now, though. When she was little, she seemed to think she was hurting them, perhaps because of the way we taught her bite inhibition (the yelp 'n' stop playing approach).

Tuffie Squid, still swimming (.....kind of)

Back in March, I reviewed the Tuffie Toys squid that Elka had been playing with (in short, supervised sessions) since Christmas.

Mr. Squid only has 2 tentacles left. I've sewed him up just once, as Elka chews specifically on the area that's a ring of nylon reinforcing the seams at the "bottom" of the critter, where the tentacles were attached. This is also where I can see how valuable the extra layers Tuffie puts into their toys is; Elka hasn't been able to pull out any of the stuffing.

(it looks like it's saying "Help me.")

Happy Birthday, Elka!

Four years ago today, my little Elka V was born! It's hard to believe that she's four; she's still so much like a puppy. Inquisitive, excitable, full of boundless energy......

Product review: Hartz Zoo Balloons

Once Elka started to play with and love squeaky toys, I had to pretty quickly get on the bandwagon and find ones that could suffer through her tough love and last for more than one play session. The Kong Squeezz toys have done quite well for that, though they are a bit spendy. The Tuffie Squid was another, but one I had to watch her with pretty closely. So, you can imagine I'm pretty happy to find a "renewable resource" of squeaky toys right in my grocery store, the Hartz Zoo Balloons. I'm not sure why they're seven bucks on Amazon, as I typically pay four and change, but it is what it is.

Island of Misfit Toys? No, we have a toy graveyard.

With Elka, we have toys that are "supervised" and ones that she can just have all the time. For the most part, the "supervised" toys are ones that we've gotten to review (like from Zippypaws or a PetsLoveToys box.) Or they're squeaky toys, which are not awesome when people in the house are sleeping. Or they're ropes, which a certain miss has apparently now decided must return to their original thready forms. Or, or or. You get the idea.

So, the "supervised" toys go on top of the refrigerator when she may not have them. This has resulted in a rather sad and desperate collection of things that I haven't yet thrown out because seriously, that's dog blog gold, and also because I feel bad throwing things away. But I also don't feel like I can give them to her most of the time.

Product review: The Kong Air

After our success and Elka's enjoyment of the Kong Squeezz, I thought we'd give another of the Kong line a try.

The Kong Air squeaks in much the same manner as the Kong Squeezz, which is far less abrasive than some squeaky toys. That's a definite bonus! It also has a fuzzy "skin" on it like a tennis ball, a clear plus in Elka's eyes.

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.

This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things....

We frequently have a hard time keeping toys on hand in this house. Elka loves toys, and as I've said before, Elka's love is not a gentle one.

Amusingly, squeaky toys used to actually have some level of protection from her. The squeak made her hesitate, jump back, regroup. That seems to have gone away in its entirety, though, and the squeaking only encourages her.

Zippypaws Review!

I was approached by a representative of Zippypaws to do a review and offer a coupon code (Expires December 31!) to my readers.

Of course Elka is always happy to try out new toys, and I'm interested in seeing what's out there. According to the information that they sent me, Zippypaws designs and manufactures their toys in-house, so that the products are less expensive for dog owners. Well that's nice of them, isn't it? So frequently, I see toys that seem to cost an awful lot of money for what I know for a fact will be destroyed in short order, once it's delivered to Elka's waiting maw. They also have free shipping in the U.S. for orders over $10

Which begs the question, as Zippypaws sent me three stuffed toys with squeakers in them, how do they hold up?

Pets Love Toys: review

I was contacted by Brian, the CEO/Founder at PetsLoveToys.com to see if I was interested in sampling and reviewing their service. You may have heard of sample box services, in which you get a monthly box full of product samples in a certain niche. PetsLoveToys is a similar principle; every month, you view the showroom and pick which box you would like to get. There are typically three choices, with a combination of treats and toys.

6 Products For People Who Are Silly For Their Dogs

Every once in awhile, in my Internet "travels", I find products that are (unfortunately) overpriced, but very clearly for people who are absolutely silly for their dogs. Mind you, I'm not using "silly" as a derogatory term; I know very well that I'm totally silly for Elka. It is her job to be the best dog (really, I believe that every dog is, at some time, for their person.) and she performs very well. Sometimes better than others, but I'd be lying if I didn't take some of the blame.

I think these things are pretty nifty, if prohibitively priced.

Book Review: Soldier Dogs, by Maria Goodavage

I anticipated the publication of Soldier Dogs for a long time. Not only am I a working dog nerd (which yes, extends to military working dogs) but I also read Dogster.com daily, and Maria Goodavage is the news editor there. When I didn't win Dogster's giveaway for the book, I ordered it through the library to check out and looked forward to its arrival. I'm leaning towards buying it; I really did quite like it.

Happy Thanksgiving, From the Elka Almanac!

I missed out on Tasty Tuesday, and this is too many words for Wordless Wednesday but, you know? I'm probably taking Thanksgiving off. So there you have it.

Last year, Target had these lovely dog toy "bundles" that mimicked a holiday meal. I had friends in Albany pick one up for Elka, but never gave it to her, for whatever reason (okay, plush + Doberman = short lived, and it's just so cute!) But, today, I'm going to be a nerd and use it to illustrate human holiday meals and what they can mean for our dogs!

So, we have a decent and stereotypical Holiday spread here (Thanksgiving or Christmas, really), sans dessert.

Depending on what you feed your dog, you may already give her quite a lot in the way of grains, as illustrated by the dinner roll. Unless it's supposed to be a hot cross bun, in which case we do have dessert. If baking bread or rolls on Thanksgiving, make sure your dog doesn't ingest any raw yeast dough, which can expand in her stomach and cause pain and gastric distress. The potato isn't so bad, really, depending on quantity (and whether it's loaded with butter). A lot of people who feed their dogs grain free, but still go commercial, end up with a fish and potato brand.

Next we have the veggies: Corn and either broccoli or asparagus. Again, depending on what you feed your dog, she may eat a lot of corn. I mean lots and lots. In fact, if interested, you might hop over to Dog Food Analysis and check out how your dog's kibble measures up. It has its own "star" rating, but also includes why foods receive the scores that they do, and list ingredients. Corn on the cob may or may not be a choking hazard, and if you decide to give it to your dog, do so only with supervision and make sure very large pieces don't get swallowed to cause stomach upset later. Broccoli is all right, as long as it doesn't exceed 10% of your dog's daily diet; apparently there's a thing called "broccoli toxicity", with stomach upset starting at the 10% mark and the 25% mark having a possibility for fatality. That sounds pretty scary, and I'm going to try to find some peer reviewed sources to verify that at another time. Asparagus I'm less familiar with, but my understanding is that in large amounts, it can cause upset stomach (are we sensing a theme?)

And now, the star of dinner, turkey! Turkey itself is a fairly lean meat. The problem here is its "add-ons". NEVER feed your dog cooked bones, poultry or otherwise. NEVER. They have a high chance of splintering and perforating organs and other necessary things. My understanding is that folks who feed raw will give RAW, whole turkey to dogs and those bones are all right, but if you decide to feed raw, make sure to do your research and discuss with an animal nutritionist so that you know about the calcium-phosphorus ratios and all that good stuff. Turkey skin, in excess, can cause pancreatitis, the symptoms of which are things like vomiting, and in extreme severity can require hospitalization. You can read more about that here, as I'm already getting rather wordy, but feel it's important to highlight these things.

Then, dinner's over. Do you run out and play right away? Well, no. Most humans, after gorging themselves on Thanksgiving dinner, roll themselves to a chair or couch and watch football, or engage in long rambling conversations. For a dog, true exertion close to a meal can cause bloat, a swelling of the stomach caused by gas and such, that may involve torsion, and certainly involves an operation to the tune of $1500 or so, and even then, depending on how early it is caught, the chances of survival may not be so great. This is a video of a dog bloating, an Akita, not a Doberman. It's good education, on the sort of things to look for in a dog, but also pretty heartbreaking. The dog lived, so you know ahead of time. The "plate" that Elka's toy pack came on is a Frisbee (well, a Flying Disk), which I thought was very clever!

When confronted with her plate of Holiday Goodies, Elka wasn't really sure what to make of them. She was interested, certainly, but the whole package was a mystery.

Eventually, I took pity on her, and extricated the corn.

Eventually, the turkey followed suit. Elka really dug the turkey; it was interestingly shaped and textured, and the drumsticks are ropes! Elka loves ropes.

She had to make sure she wasn't missing out on anything, of course.

And, because I'm a meanie, I only let her play with them for a little while, so that they last longer than five minutes. The squeakers in them are actually rather hard (perhaps because they've cured for a year?) and don't squeak at the slightest touch, which is optimal for Elka, and poor for the survivability of the toys.

Have a safe and happy holiday, everybody!

Product Review: The Everlasting Treat Ball

Sometimes, you look at a product, dismiss it, and then look at it again going "Well, maaaayyybe".

I did this with the Everlasting Treat Ball.  At first glance, I really didn't think that it was made out of rubber tough enough to withstand being wedged between Elka's molars and really gnawed upon.  I didn't think the edges would stand up to a very intent Doberman's tender mercies.  I thought the treats themselves might be too brittle, and just crumble, and if I didn't use the treats themselves and just put treats in the center, well, why not use the Kong or Monster Mouth instead?

Well, I was wrong.

Elka's new toy! The Zogoflex Hurley

You might be thinking "how many toys can this dog possibly need?  She already loves Gumby, and loves tennis balls, has the Monster Mouth, and the Kong [which is already redundant]. That's it! Set for life!"

Well, that's a bit like asking me how many more books I intend to read. Or how much longer I'm going to spend on the Internet. Or what more I could possibly do in World of Warcraft or one of the new Fallout games.

Dogs, like people, need entertainment.  Dogs, like people, tend to like new things.  Old things get, well, old.  Boring.  You might revisit them, but why not have a new thing?  Especially if the new thing was on sale for half the usual price.  Especially if the thing is named after possibly one of your favorite Lost characters.