It's a Pittie-full Life
  • Home
  • Travels with Tucker
  • Is it Tucker-Tough?
  • Precious Cargo
  • Renovating Rover
  • Tucker's Favorite Folks

Is it Tucker-Tough?

Finding a toy that is durable and fun for a pit bull mix is like searching for the Holy Grail. Or Bigfoot. Or the Loch Ness Monster. Here, Tucker tries out and I review toys we've given a go at. "Chew Guard," "Tuff" toys, and even toys made of tires are tested and reviewed.

Fluff & (Most Definitely) Tuff: Truman

12/27/2014

0 Comments

 
While in Atlanta, Georgia earlier this year I discovered a hometown toy brand. Well, not hometown, but at least home state: Fluff & Tuff out of Savannah, Georgia. I had never seen them in chain stores; this seemed to be unique to small mom and pop shops in the region. Unlike “chew guard” or “tough technology” they have no name for their barrier, but they do attach a small piece to the tag so you can see what is inside the toy. The plush is newborn baby-toy soft, but under that is a stretchy, gauzy like material. Chewing through that is a challenge, as the teeth can’t slice it easily. The toy is double-stitched as well, but it’s really that extra layer that gives it its “tuff” while the exterior of the toy is without a doubt “fluff.”

Tucker, along with many other dogs, have a knack for finding any toy’s weakness immediately. An obvious weakness is any appendage. Much like a herd, there is safety in grouping together and anything dangling off on the fringes is sure to be picked off within seconds. So, with that in mind, I chose Truman the Owl. (All of their animals have names.)
Picture
As I suspected, the beak was gone instantly. I didn’t see it get ripped off; one moment it was there, the next it was not. Never found it either. The next point of weakness was the tail. Not to get too graphic, but here’s the rear entry damage.
Picture
Chew toys last when a dog puts one in his mouth and chomps down on it again and again to squeak it. I urged Tucker to play with Truman in this manner instead of his preferred play technique: the hold down and tear upward move. Once that happens—to any toy—the toy is ultimately doomed. You don’t bounce back from the stand and shred.

Truman went with us from Georgia, to Louisiana, to Oregon, and to our own home state of California in the past ten months. It’s been a trusty little fella that Tucker enjoys—until I ask him to play nicely with it. He does so for brief spells, but the entire time he’s fighting the urge to hold it down with his two front paws and rip a wing off it (which he came close to doing.)
Picture
Overall, this is a great toy from a great company. Yes, the tags do say they’re made in China, but I’m not terribly concerned with their safety. The few holes Tucker has gotten into Truman, the stuffing appears to be the normal level of toxic material (cause let’s face it, dogs shouldn’t eat stuffing of any kind), and I have yet to actually extract a squeaker from one.

With Christmas around the corner, I felt it was time for a new Truman. Fluff & Tuff are supposed to be machine-washable, but I haven’t tried. With the few wounds on its exterior, I was worried I’d end up with stuffing in the washing machine hoses by the end of it. Looking at the before and after, I see now a wash might have been appropriate long ago.
Picture
But I won’t say that’s dirt. That’s just the indelible marks of being thoroughly loved.  The Velveteen Rabbit would be jealous.
Picture
Two thumbs up, all paws, and a bark of excited joy for Fluff & Tuff’s Truman the Owl. I'm sure Truman Jr. will last just as long enduring Tucker's tough love.
0 Comments

Technological Failures

11/30/2014

0 Comments

 
On Tucker and my first gig together, my UPM took up the challenge of finding Tucker a toy that lasted more than seven minutes. I told her it would be tough and not to spend too much money, but she insisted that she took joy in the process.

After our second weekend on the production, she showed up and handed Tucker his first challenge. This is essentially the story of every toy Tucker has:
Picture
Tucker politely takes it from her hand, and throws it down on the ground, butt up in the air and tail furiously wagging to express his joy.
Picture
Tucker pauses for a moment to say, "Thank you," and after she walks away, adds under his breath with full confidence, "Challenge accepted."
Picture
Thirty-five minutes later, he has beheaded it, and the cranium lies outside the gate to my office as if in warning to all other toys that might trespass.
Picture
I retrieve the head as to not upset the production bullpen, while Tucker completes eviscerating the torso.
Picture
One hour and fourteen minutes later, Tucker is sad and toyless.
I don't think I need to write this part, but just so it's absolutely clear: this toy is an epic failure. "Chew Guard Technology" did nothing to save this little supposed billie goat from complete annihilation. 

I've tried to find it online, but it appears that it's off the market. Good choice, Go Dog.
0 Comments

Self-Entertaining Canines

11/30/2014

0 Comments

 
One of the many reasons I foster-failed was because Tucker is an independent spirit. He doesn't need me to entertain him. In fact, him entertaining himself is my entertainment. This is some footage I shot of him during lunch one day a couple weeks after he came to stay with me:
It seems as if there’s an entire storyline going on in his head. The ball moves on its own and is trying thwart his efforts of capture. He, in turn, changes tactics and forges ahead. The kid’s got a vivid imagination. I love him for that.

But not all of his plots are as complex. Usually it’s a straight up assassination. When I say I have an independent dog that can amuse himself, I don’t mean that I find him at the dining table working on the New York Times Crossword Puzzle or proving the existence of the Higgs particle. I mean that single-handedly and one by one, he eviscerates toys, spewing their stuffing across the living room, and ending up with squeakers that need to be extracted from his gullet. 

It wasn’t until he went to daycare where I presume some other dog was like, “Dude, no, you don’t eat the squeaker,” that he ceased trying to consume whatever hard, plastic, intestine-ripping item he had removed from a destroyed toy.  Prior to that, we spent much of his play time with my hand wrist-deep down his throat.

Dogs should always be supervised during play. How much supervision depends on how much of a control freak you are and how much your dog doesn’t understand his own mortality. In my situation, both variables are quite high. Yet another reason I love my dog: he’s fearless. However, this also means I need to have a healthy dose of fear for him. Luckily he’s a sturdy dog, he's got a stocky frame, and is well-muscled and quite flexible despite his blocky chassis. My fear level is low when he barrels through the yard at 60 mph, fumbles the ball, skids across the grass, flips over, and scrapes against a tree. Falling off the two and a half foot high deck is also of little concern for me. But eating plastic squeakers—or in some cases, full toys—is on my list of highly plausible hazards.

In reviewing these items, I’m not just looking at sustainability, length of life, and how much fun the toy is, but how much worry I have about the innards he’s ultimately going to have between his teeth before I yank them out. I don’t have a star-rated system as I’m not a black and white, yes or no type person. I can justify anything. And, for most people, even if the toy fails for me, may not fail for you. I provide my experience, and let you decide if you think you’ll have a similar one or not.

Let’s begin in the early days….
0 Comments

    Archives

    December 2014
    November 2014

    Posts

    All
    Fluff & Most Definitely Tuff
    Self-Entertaining Canines
    Technological Failures

    RSS Feed

About    Contact   
c 2014 August Nights Press