Road Testing: GoDog Toys with Chew Guard

As a general rule, my big beast of a dog, Bonaparte, is not destructive with his toys. He plays joyously but gently, and has amassed a fairly decent collection of stuffies that he loves and cares for. Enter his brother, Kismet, a nearly 2 year-old Standard Poodle. On his own, Kismet is not a murderer of toys, either. He shatters the soundboxes in some toys, but that's about the extent of it.  You put these two boys together, however, and they make short work of...anything.

Tug of War is the name of the game - at least it's a game for Kismet. Mostly Bonaparte just wants to be able to love and play with his toys on his own, and he holds on for dear life when his obnoxious little brother tries to steal them away. This means I have had more than my share of eviscerated toys in my living room. Torn in half, they are casualties of sibling rivalry.

So I was very excited to road test a new brand of soft toy, the GoDog toy. My boys have also road-tested the Tuffies brand of toys, and I"m very glad to say that their T-Rex is still in mint condition. The only down-side of T-Rex is that he is big and heavy and stuff, and he does not lend himself to a rousing game of "No it's mine, not yours". That probably accounts for his longevity.

GoDog toys are soft animals that are loaded with squeakers and crinkles, but light on the stuffing. They are triple stitched and lined with a proprietary super-tough inner lining that makes it difficult for the pet to tear into it. They are machine washable and, best of all, they are ADORABLE.

Retailing for $11.98 (small dogs) and $17.98 (large dogs) they are very reasonably priced as well, especially if they stand up to my beasts.

For the road test I took home "Frills", a grey dinosaur that makes a deliciously onbnoxious honking squeak sound, as well as having crinkles in his tail. Night one consisted of Bonaparte pounding on Frills and throwing him around. His general sweet, playful celebration of a new toy. Even the most delicate of stuffies survive this round, so I knew I would have to step up the game for day 2. Day 2 I allowed the boys a no-holds-barred wrestling match over Frills. Kismet on one side and Bonaparte on the other, they vastly exceeded the 60lbs of pulling pressure that the GoDog toys are built to withstand. After 10 minutes of hellacious tugging, I took Frills away and inspected him. He was intact.

Night 3, it was on like Donkey Kong. They were absolutely NUTS with the tugging, growling and general irritation at having to share a beloved new toy. I was pretty sure that with the force of Bonaparte's thrashes, we were in danger not only of ripping Frills in half, but yanking Kismet's head off in the process.  After a good 10 minutes of insanity, Frills was dropped in the dog bed and begged for an inspection.

The verdict of this no-holds-barred smackdown? Frills lost a big of stitching at his seams and has 2 small holes along them. I know the boys applied a lot more than 60lbs of tugging pressure at each end, so that is no surprise. Frills will be easily doctored with needle and thread, although he won't be nearly as strong on the other side. The most excellent news is that through all the teeth gnashing and grabbing, not once were the boys' teeth able to pierce through the hide of Frills. The chew-guard really lived up to its  reputation and withstood a LOT of abuse on that front. In my house, with normal play and minimal tugging (those kinds of idiotic games are, usually, nixed at the outset because of the damage they cause to toys, furniture and human kneecaps), the GoDog toys will last a long time. 

So 2 paws up, Sherpa. Your GoDog toys with ChewGuard are Bonaparte inspected and Kismet approved! ;)