Doggie Product Reviews 4 U

Monday, June 13, 2011


Review – The Huck

                    I have always intended to make reviews an integral part of this blog.  I did a couple of reviews and found myself having to put the reviews on the back burner.  The time constraints along with the rigors of everyday life have made it difficult.  I am going to try once again to start a reviews page.  I hope you will check back often to see what is being reviewed.  

               This past weekend my wife and I were in Cape May, NJ for a little relaxation.  As we wandered the outdoor mall we came across a great little store called Dog Days of Cape May.  It was full of all kinds of doggie goodies.  I started to think about the reviews page of this blog and decided to give it another try.  We looked around the store and found a couple of great things.  We ultimately decided on a ball called Huck.  At $12.99 we thought it a bit on the expensive side for a ball of this size.  The package said Huck was made with tough material and it had a guarantee that said the ball would be replaced if there was any dog damage.  This is what got my attention.  My dogs have been destroying every toy I have ever gotten them with in a 3 day period.  So I figured what the heck, it wasn’t so expensive that I would forgo a challenge like that.  So we got the ball and off we went.
                I decided to wait until we were home to give the ball to the dogs.  I took the ball out of the wrapper and that got all the attention.  As soon as I started to remove the ball from its packaging I had three very attentive doges staring at me.  Once I got the ball out of its wrapper Jasmine (the lab) went bonkers.  No surprise there, she loves any kind of ball.  The husky on the other hand didn’t react much.  No surprise there either.  I don’t think huskies have the ability to fetch, or at least mine doesn’t.  I have tried throwing a stick for Frankie (the husky) and all she does is watch it fly through the air and then look at me as if to say… Are you going to get that?  Then there was Scarlet (the pit), she may have been excited, but I can’t be sure because she was blocked from my sight by an enormous bouncing black lab. I tossed the ball in the air and you would have thought it was the tip off for the doggie basketball league.  Jasmine and Scarlet both went for it, although Jasmine is twice Scarlet’s size so there really was no contest, Jasmine caught it and played with it.  What I found interesting was when Jasmine would drop the ball it would bounce in a totally random direction and she loved it.  She kept tossing it and chasing it.  That is right my lab was playing fetch… with no one.  Strange dog but very amusing.   After about an hour of this, Frankie chased after the ball.  I could not believe my eyes.  She was actually chasing a ball.  When she got it the chewing began.  This is how the destruction of all toys begins… in Frankie’s jaws. She will nibble and chew until whatever she is nibbling and chewing deteriorates into many little pieces that I inevitably find myself picking up by hand for the next couple of days because Frankie will spread tiny toy parts all over the house.   After about two hours of her gnawing on this ball I decided to take a look, it still looked brand new, aside from the dog slobber and fur of course.
 
                We have now had the ball for about three days and as you can see below there is a little damage, but the ball is still in one piece.  I must say I am impressed.  All three dogs love it, Frankie still will not fetch the ball, but she does still pick it up and chew on it for hours on end.  Scarlett has gotten into the habit of bringing me the ball when she wants to play.  And Jasmine is Jasmine, the big lovable oaf that LOVES to fetch, even if she is all by herself.  We give the Huck 4 wags out of 5, and that is pretty darn good.  I would recommend Huck to anyone who has a dog that loves to chew or fetch or both.  Huck floats so it’s great at the beach or the pool if you are lucky enough to have one.  Huck does take a beating and holds its own.  This toy will surely keep your dog’s happy!

Nick Carreno
DoggieDiaries4u@gmail.com
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Review - PetCo Slow Feed Bowl

This month I decided to do a review on a slow feed bowl. The Petco Slow Feed Bowl to be more precise. As you probably know I have a black lab, Jasmine. What you may not know is Jasmine is more pig than dog when it comes to food. She would eat so fast, and I do me fast, a cup and a half of food in less than 5 seconds fast, she would make herself sick. She was constantly vomiting after she ate. I know that's gross, but you are not the one that had to clean it up everyday, now that's gross! So I thought, what a great opportunity to do a review on something that may actually help Jasmine out.

          I purchased the PetCo Slow feed bowl at our local PetCo for $12.99, the ad for the bowl said it would help to slow rapid eating, discourage overeating, promote good digestion and help prevent over eating, it also boasts a non-skid bottom. as you can see from the picture below it looks like a normal dog bowl except for the dividers inside. I was concerned she would chew up these dividers in the bowl. I have fed Jasmine out of this bowl for about a month now, and the results are in!



          This slow feeder bowl is wonderful, it did everything it said it would do. It has slowed Jasmines eating from 5 seconds to about 5 min for the same cup and a half of food, She has stopped becoming sick all over my floors after eating, and she actually lost weight, though I am not sure if it is because of the bowl or because we are making her dog food here at home now. We started using the bowl right around the same time we began feeding her the home made dog food. The only thing that did not work to well was the non skid bottom. I don't think I can blame the makers of the slow feed bowl for that though. Anything containing food gets pushed along the floor until it comes in contact with a solid object, like a wall or a refrigerator, no matter what its made of or how non-skid the bottom is. As I have said I sometimes wonder if Jasmine was raised by pigs. Below you can see a before and after shot of the bowl. The picture on the left is the bowl new and unused the picture on the right is that same bowl almost a month later. As you can see there is not much difference. Jasmine did not chew up the dividers like I thought she might. This bowl has worked surprisingly well. I am glad I got it and I am very happy to give this bowl 4 tail wags out of 5.


          
          If your dog is a fast eater, I can not recommend this bowl enough. It works, it really will help your dog slow down and eat more naturally. I have included a link the video I took comparing the slow feed bowl with her old bowl so you can see the difference for yourself, We fed her one cup of food in her old bowl and one cup of food in the new slow feed bowl. It does seem like she is attacking the slow feed bowl, but what is really happening is she is trying to eat around the dividers and that is slowing her down. You can judge for yourself. In my opinion however, this bowl is a great for the speedy eaters, it will help to keep those fast eating furry friends healthy and happy.


 Slow feed bowl vs. old feeding bowl.

 
Thank you for reading, and watching.
Nick C

DoggieDiaries4U@gmail.com

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Thursday, October 14, 2010

          I have been thinking about doing product reviews for a while now. I finally decided to jump into it with both feet. I will be reviewing one doggie product a month, the reviews should be out right around the 15th of every month. I will buy the product, use it for three days or rather let my dogs use it for three days and see if its worth while. The rating will be from one to five tail wags, five being the best of course. For my first review I decided to go with a dog toy called Crazy Critters. I have heard so much about it the past few months I figured it would be a great jumping off point for the product reviews.


          This product prides its self on the ingenious idea of having a furry dog toy with no stuffing, this way there is nothing your dog to pull out of the toy and potentially hurt its self by swallowing stuffing. It also promotes 2 squeakers. One in the head and one in the tail, and the toy itself is 22" long. Since there is no stuffing it can work for any sized dog. It is a toy that got its start with as seen on TV. The price is quite reasonable at 9.99 + tax. There is a photo below showing what the product looks like right after purchase. Now to let my dogs have a go at it, and hopefully I can let you know how it goes.



          Day 1: As soon as we squeaked the squeaker the dogs went nuts, they had to have it. So I tossed them the critter and Frankie the husky jumped on it and immediately tried to kill it. She shook the critter around, tossed it and pounced on it. She absolutely LOVED it. Jasmine our black lab spent most of her time trying to steal the toy away from Frankie, without very much success. After about 20 minutes I noticed the squeaking had stopped. Upon investigation, I saw that Frankie had ripped open the toy and chewed the squeaker until it had broken. The squeaker in the head did not last very long, I was able to get the squeaker Frankie had so diligently removed, and put it somewhere safely away from the dogs. The squeaker in the tail was exposed over the next 20 min, I removed that from the toy just to be safe, I didn't want my dogs potentially swallowing the plastic squeaker. Jasmine finally had her turn with it, and she was more or less just laying with it, giving it a chew every now and then. I took some pics of them playing with the toy (shown below) so you could see how much they love this thing.



         
        
        




           Day 2: As you can tell by the photos below, the crazy critter looks more like a furry rag, I was going to toss it but Frankie still loves to play with it, as does Jasmine, even with the squeakers gone, the still seam to love chewing on it. I am thinking I could have gotten a dollar store tea towel and they would have loved that as well. So for now I am happy to let them play with it, there is no more danger because the squeakers have been removed. One more day to go, lets see how the crazy critter holds up over the next 24 hours.


          Day 3: Ok so I am not sure what this toy is anymore. The dogs still love it, it looks like a rag that has seen better days. I took a final photograph, (seen below) so you can judge for yourself. Frankie seems to be the one that loves this toy the most. This is not surprising to me at all, because if it moves and is small and furry the hunt is on. She doesn't play with it much while I am here but I can tell she chews on it all day long however because when I get home it is wet and even more mangled then when I left it in the morning.



          Ok I have had three days to observe this product with my dogs, The fact that they got the plastic squeakers out so easily is a concern for me, however this toy has gotten more attention than any of the other toys they have since we got it. So I am in a rough spot here. The dogs love it but it can be potentially dangerous if you have a dog that will eat just about anything, including chewed up plastic squeakers. If not for the squeakers I would have given this toy a very high rating, but because of the danger factor, I am going to have to give it 2 1/2 Wags, I would say this Crazy Critters is a great toy with lots of supervision, or you could just cut them out to ensure your dog can play safely.


          Thanks for reading, I hope this review helps. As always, remember to keep your furry family members healthy and happy.



Nick C
DoggieDiaries4u@gmail.com