Product Review and Blogger Award!

This month I decided to talk about the line of Everlasting treat dispensing toys. We've tried four of them out and I think there's at least one more. The basic premise is that they are these neat rubbery/plasticy toys with specially designed holes that accomodate their special Everlasting treats. All the designs also have an empty middle section with a small hole(s) that you can put additional treats in. The idea is that these toys will keep your dog(s) entertained for a long time. Unfortunately, these toys aren't really dane proof. After Heffner and Bess both popped the Everlasting treat out of the smaller blue toy, I thought that maybe getting one of the bigger ones would make it more difficult for them. While it did take them longer (Bess a bit longer than Heffner) to pop the treat out, they were still able to do it. Both dogs did enjoy rolling the different toys around to get the little treats out that I put in the middle of the different toys. For that I just used regular kibble. I chose the Fish and Sweet Potato formula by Natural Balance. It's not a really crappy kibble and the dogs are really attracted by the smell!

The first toy that we tried out was the Starmark Everlasting Treat Ball.

Heffner popped the Everlasting treat out of it pretty quick. Bess was more into licking the treat initially. If we let her continue to play with the toy after there were no longer any treats in it, she would start chewing and pulling off pieces of the edges so that it ended up looking like this:

The next toy was the Everlasting Fun Ball. Heffner really likes to get the whole thing in his mouth (their largest size isn't really all that large) and crunch the kibble inside. Bess enjoys batting it with her feet to make the treats drop out. Since all of these toys are made out of the same material, the dogs don't get to play with them indefinitely because at least one of them would destroy them entirely! So once the treats are gone, the toy gets put up.

The next toy that we tried out because of it's size was the Everlasting Fire Plug. I thought that there was a good possibility that Heffner couldn't pop out the treat on this one, but no such luck. It takes Bess a little bit longer, but she also gets it out rather quickly. Again, they still like rolling it around on the ground to get the treats out.

The final toy I bought just because. It's the Everlasting Beanie Ball. It's pretty similar to the Starmark Ball, but is rounded on the bottom. The dogs are still entertained by it, but they go through the treats pretty quickly because of it's small size.

And then finally there's the Everlasting treats themselves.

Everlasting they most certainly are NOT. It takes the dogs maybe 5 min. to completely eat them and that includes the amount of time it takes them to pop the buggers out of the toys. Considering how much they are, $7-$9 for a pack of two, they REALLY aren't worth it. If you've got a smaller dog, these toys and treats are probably pretty awesome. For larger dogs, don't count on these toys to keep your dog occupied for all that long. I like giving it to the dogs as a little treat now and then.

Now on to our very first blogger award!!! The lovely and boisterous Bell has given us this award!

Here's the rules:

1. Post it to the blog and link to who gave it to you.
2. Choose 5 life situations that could be repeated in slow motion and explain why.
3. List twelve blogs and let them know you've given them the award.

Here goes:

1) I posted the link to Bell's blog above.

2) #1 Heffner's Fullhouse run in April. He went over a few jumps and then headed straight to the table, which is live for the entire run and also ends your run once your dog touches it. I chose this one because there was someone taking pictures of it and I look pretty funny trying to pull him away from the table! #2 Bess' very first point in conformation. It was just a really cool moment! #3 Heffner and Mojo wrestling when they were younger. Thos two got along soooooo well! It's especially sad now because Mojo passed away and Heffner just doesn't have any male danes that he gets along with. #4 Bess' Wildcard run this weekend. I would like to see in slow motion how she attached the first tunnel and managed to move it a few feet! My angle just wasn't good enough! #5 Me running down the street with Heffner after that kid who threw our garbade can onto our lawn! I would have LOVED to see the looks on the kids faces when they realized that we were coming after them!!

3) You know, I haven't even been following 12 blogs yet. I will list the actual doggy blogs that I've been following that participate and like getting these awards!

Behr Behr's blog - because I love Teddy Bear Tuesday and just enjoy the blog in general!

Life With Dogs - OMG, this blog totally cracks me up. I made my way through all of the archives and it is sooooo entertaining!

My Great Danes - I absolutely LOVE Nic's boys!! And they live in Australia. Totally awesome!

Team 3 Dawg Flite - As I mentioned before, I love reading about these guys' exploits in dock diving and love seeing the pictures!

Diva the Great Dane - Who wouldn't love watching an adorable great dane puppy growing up??

That's all that I can think of right now! Sorry if I've left anyone off!