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. 

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.

Elka's Balls

At the beginning of this blog, I had many many tennis ball posts. I just could not believe how easily tennis balls designed for dogs were destroyed by Elka. Don't these people know? Is it just a cash grab? I still have no answer.

(in her lovely studded collar, from The Punky Pup, which closed its Internet doors)

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.