pets

Day 121/365: Brody my Jack Russell, the Official Tester of Tough Squeaky Dog Toys

April 6, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Toughest Toys – Squeaky Dog Toys for Aggressive Chewers

Many of you have followed my quest to find the indestructible dog toy. Specifically, a squeaky toy, my Jack Russell loves squeaky toys. So far only the toys that have past the survivability test has been his Nylabone Dura Chew and his Busy Buddy.

My postings on this adventure attracted the attention of the Kyjen Company who makes unique and innovative dog products.

They sent graciously Brody a box of challenging and definitely unique squeaky toys and I’m going to do them justice during my by documenting Brody’s experience.

Kyjen Pet Products and their tough squeaky dog toys

Outward Hound 32039 Squeaker Matz Gator 16 Squeaker Plush Squeak Toy Dog Toys, Large, Green Kyjen PP02255 Hard Boiled Softies Dog Toys Durable Rubber and Plush Squeak Toy, Large, Multicolor

The day the box arrived Brody just knew it was for him.

Seriously, it was almost like ESP and he could sense all the fun inside. I let Brody pick out of the box and the first one he picked was the Hard Boiled Softies. It honks rather than squeaks and this was different. It is a plush covering with a hard rubber “yolk” inside.

white dog playing with his dog toy — It’s a bee! It’s different!

He pushed and honked it and eventually the antennae and the wings came off. Then he went to work on the bottom part of the plush bee because he couldn’t get at the noisemaker.

After a few hours, the egg came loose from its fabric. I was very impressed with the thick rubber construction. Since it was a very large size it was more difficult to puncture.

Dog toys in my house get destroyed — Got it loose!

After the egg was out of the “shell” Brody played and bounced it around all night.

What? All night, a toy actually lasted all night? This is a first!

The squeaker stayed in the egg even. It wasn’t until the next day the squeaker became dislodged and disappeared inside the dog toy cavity. I fully expected it then to be chewed into many pieces. Nope.

A week later I’m using the egg as a treat toy. I break up his dog bones into three pieces and put them inside. It’s a perfect size the egg is large enough in diameter to encourage some serious chewing and tossing to get them out.

This next phase of toy play will last him hours if I keep the treat pieces large enough.

I have put the egg back in it’s shell a few times, but it’s chewed up enough where it doesn’t stay. But I’m impressed.

As you can see from the video Brody really loves his toys, small toys are a challenge to play interactively with him as he plays keep away. Next review is a toy that is the perfect size in my opinion, maybe if they merged the two together?

Thank You Kyjen!

PetSafe Dog Toys the BEST tough dog toys for aggressive chewers

In my years of buying and testing dog toys, I’ve learned that the Petsafe dog toys are really TOUGH dog chew toys and the BEST on the market.

Here are my favorite dog toys that meet the tough, and fit into the truly indestructible category. PetSafe makes super quality dog toys and the Busy Buddy was Brody’s first toy, my request, or wish, they make a tough durable squeaker came true and the Booya is what every dog toy should be like in the future.

PetSafe Busy Buddy Waggle Dog Toy, Medium/Large Busy Buddy Squeak N Treat Booya Dog Toy Large PetSafe Busy Buddy Barnacle Dog Toy, Large PetSafe/Premier Busy Buddy SQUIRREL DUDE Dog Treat Chew Toy Large

If you’re looking for GUARANTEED indestructible dog toys these are your best bet, but you may have a dog that is a super aggressive chewer and these still won’t last. One tip is to get one size larger than recommended.

Day 116/365: Mighty Dog Ball

April 2, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Searching for Tough Dog Toys

Brody my Jack Russel is at it again, testing tough dog toys. He loves this job. I on the other hand am getting tired of toys only lasting a few hours. Tried something a little different this time, The Mighty Dog Ball. This particular squeaky toy from MyDogToy.com had a hard rubber interior, no fluff. As usual Brody loved the ball, pushing on it making it squeak, chewing on it until the fabric was soggy.

That novelty lasted thirty minutes until his tooth punctured the fabric, then the tugging began. Within ten minutes the fabric was off. The ball inside would have been a good option for an additional play toy, if it were tougher, like Kong tough. (Kong toys are the only ones he can’t destroy).Back to the Mighty Dog Ball. He found the little squeaky device and purposely extracted the offending noise, then chewed it to bits. Time. one hour fifteen minutes. Not really worth the money if you have a toy destroyer in your house.

Due to my frequent posting about my dog toy experiment, the Kyjen Dog Toy Company and Brody’s amazing destructive ability, they sent him (and me) a whole box of toys to test and review.

Here is part one and part two of the Kyjen Dog Toy review

Dog Toy UPDATE:

Since I posted this several years ago I have been through hundreds of dollars of pet toys. I basically gave up and would just get a stuffed animal from the thrift store for fifty cents and let attack and destroy.

BUT, I did find an indestructible squeaky toy. Not only has it lasted months, but it still drives him crazy and keeps his interest. It’s the Booya Squeak and Treat.

Dog Toys for Aggressive Chewers

Below are some of the tougher dog toys that I have found. The Kong is tough, but doesn’t squeak, although if you have a food motivated pup it will keep them happy for hours. So far the PetSafe dog toys are the best so far for longevity. My Boxer isn’t a chewer and she loves the Kyjen Squeaker Mats, as far as tough dog toys, it’s tough enough for her.

Busy Buddy Squeak N Treat Booya Dog Toy Large Realtree Waggle Dog Toy, Medium/Large Kyjen PP01379 Squeaker Mat Squirrel 16-Squeaker Plush Squeak Toy Dog Toys, Squirrel, Large West Paw Design Zogoflex Tux Guaranteed Tough Treat Stuffable Dog Chew Toy, Tangerine Tuffy Ultimates Ring Dog Toy, Red Paws Kong PB2 Bounzer Medium

Day 93/365: Cat on the Porch

March 8, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Another trip to the mailbox and a stop at my neighbors house, her cats will be a common subject as the weather gets nicer. It was a drab overcast day and I was disappointed with the original picture. No sun, no oomph, so I worked some photoshop magic.

Photoshop CS2 Notes: Regular adjustment layers with smart sharpen, then went in and decreased the lighting, bumped up the contrast, and added a warming filter. What a difference! After adding some additional sharpening on the face and whiskers and I was happy.

#7/52: Chevy Truck in the Barn (ndjmom.wordpress.com)
Seaport Fence (ndjmom.wordpress.com)
Photoshop Friday: Sunset Silhouette (ndjmom.wordpress.com)

Day 85/365: Dog Toy Testing Continues

February 26, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

Brody seems so happy, and he is, happy to destroy any squeaky dog toy that comes into the house. If you read his previous toy escapade, you will see he is quite the toy enthusiast and he’s at it again, another dog toy test, another day with fluff littering the living room. Mighty Dog Toys are promoted as being tested by tigers (watch videos here) and encourages the consumer to rethink durability.

Day 85: Brody's New Toy — Day 85: Brody’s New Toy

I signed up to be a toy tester with MyDogToy.com to save money, they are half price if you agree to review the toy on the website, now it’s become a challenge. I hope the feedback I give VIP Products will learn actually create an indestructible dog toy. Wouldn’t that be wonderful.

Dog toy test by a Jack russell terrier — Look at me, look at me!!

This has been the best squeaky dog toy so far. I liked it because it was big enough to grab and pull away from Brody without getting near his mouth. The Mega Gear Ring was much easier to play fetch and throw, I loved it and I think Brody even loved the big size. The Ring seemed to fight with him as he ran and he carried it various ways with his head the middle of the circle. Tried to get various pictures, but he moved too fast.

The outside fabric was quilted and prevented him from pulling all the outside cover off. That frustrated him to no end, he could only rip one square inch of fabric at a time. Mighty Dog Toys goes to great lengths to attempt to make their toys durable, and for normal dogs, or even persistent dogs this would work, as you can see below VIP Products tries really hard.

Seven Rows of Stitching Each toy’s seven layers of material are sewn together with two rows of linear stitching and two rows of cross stitching. The four rows of stitching are protected with an industrial grade luggage material that is sewn 3 more times. Seven Layers of Material Three layers of 600 Denier industrial grade material, three layers of plastic coating and finally one layer of soft fleece. All seven layers are rolled together and then sewn with a one inch cross pattern to prevent layer separation. Protective Webbing Additional industrial grade luggage material is sewn around the outside edge with three rows of stitching to cover and protect the first four rows of stitching. Squeaker Safety Pockets Each Squeaker is safe and quiet because they are sewn into a nylon safety pocket beneath seven layers of material.

Dog destroys a dog toy — Yes, I’m the destroyer, bring on the next one…

It took Brody almost 2 hours to penetrate and release fluff. This is the longest of any dog toy I’ve ever gotten him. Then it was only one of four compartments.
This was great! He literally exhausted himself. The last compartment wasn’t breached for almost six hours. He eventually tore and ripped holes in the fabric, but threw and tossed it around for the next couple of days.

We had a lot of fun with this one, and if I had taken it away after a few hours, then given it back later, it would of latest for days.

Photoshop Notes: Top picture, which really is my “photo of the day “, normal action layers, but I erased the background in the upper left of the cabinet and Xbox controllers, it was distracting and messy

Have you had any luck with finding indestructible dog toys? If so I’d like to hear about them. Leave me a comment, or contact me on Twitter.

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Day 79/365: The Wind in a Pup’s Ears

February 18, 2011 by info@3QuartersToday.com

What a gorgeous day, called for a short walk with my pooch Brody before supper. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze at the elementary school playground. Enough of a wind to blow his ear back, they don’t normally stick up. He was so happy sitting with his face to the sun and running around.

He normally wears a harness and I use a 16 foot retractable leash, but you can’t see it here. I wonder why? Smile. I’m getting better at PhotoShop. Smile.

Photoshop Notes: I have set up actions that automatically duplicate the background, add adjustment layers, resize, and smart sharpen to 11%. All with a click of one button. So easy and fast! Love it! With this image I adjusted the brightness , contrast, and reduced the saturation on Brody’s white fur. I also adjusted the exposure and the shadow/highlight slightly. Oh, and last but not least I cloned out the black chest harness and leash.