Toy Story 2

After my recent lament about finding toys that were Sirius and Geddy proof, I had more than one person tell me to try Bark Box.  So I did.  And here's the results for any of you considering the same thing:

So I knew from buying Bark Boxes as gifts for others that you can get a subscription, and I knew, because once I did that I was on their email list, that they had introduced their "super chewer" line some time back.  I also knew that, by the time I came home with either treats or toys every single time I ran errands, a Bark Box subscription was probably economically sound (they should probably come up with a toddler version of the same thing - I just spent $129 at Target to run and get $20 worth of stuff - of course one of the toys was a Star Wars collectible for me, but...the point being, I could control myself a lot better with someone else parceling out my toy allotment).  So, I pulled the trigger and subscribed.

And here's the first thing to know: they don't have an easy way to select subscription for the Super Chewer.  I was trying to take care of it early one morning before work and their chat was still offline, so I left a message through their chat service to tell them I needed to upgrade and went ahead and just subscribed so I could get it done.  Second thing to know - they process that order and get your first box on its way to you really quickly.  So before I could say Bark, our first box was on its way.  Which I knew meant whatever toys were included would be mincemeat almost immediately.

What's you got in there Mama?

And sure enough, the first box arrived with just the standard fair.  Next thing to know: I have three dogs, but they include two toys, two bags of treats and two single larger treats.  I made the fateful mistake of opening the box as the puck dropped on a late season Penguins game thinking that would keep them occupied, and I could watch hockey.  Wrong.  They proceeded to fight over the toys since there were only two of them and made me nuts the entire game.  Now, mind you, there are a plethora of dog toys in this house, but they are just like kids; they want what's new and shiny.  And, without any surprise on my part, they had the plush toy completely dismantled as the horn sounded at the end of the game.  That said, Sirius LOVED that thing and carried the carcass of that toy around with him for weeks.  But, this wasn't going to work long-term so I contacted the folks at Bark Box the next morning.

Geddy preparing to destroy some poor unsuspecting toy

And here's the next thing to know: they seriously could not be nicer.  I do customer support and work an internal chat line.  I like to think I'm proficient and nice to the people who come to me for help, but I'm pretty sure I don't hold a candle to these people.  They switched me out no problem and when the next box arrived, the toys were far more resilient.

However, the next slight hurdle was the three dogs: two larger treats ratio thing.  I would be faced with two choices: hoard the larger single treats or wait until one of the dogs was alone and deserving of a treat and portion it out that way.  I shared that with the Bark Box folks in a survey, and they actually reached out to me.  And here's the next thing to know: if you're interested in marketing, watch how these guys do it.  Because a) I immediately felt validated because someone had paid attention to my comments and b) their emails are absolutely precious.  Everyone I get, and I've gotten a few now, had cute animal .gifs embedded.  And you know how they tell you to smile when you talk because the caller can tell?  Well, I tend to think that's true in your writing too, and I'm guessing they either love their jobs or are amazing at faking it.

Anyway, next thing to know: if you're a multiple dog owner, their remedy to the portioning is to offer you additional boxes for a reduced price.  So I did that.  (And the woman I worked with sent me a box of treats for free...again, superlative marketing.)

I like the quality of the treats a lot.  They're extremely fresh.  The dogs have been exposed to some things I'd never bought them on my own - like pigs' ears (because that sort of makes me sad, so I could never bring myself to buy them) as one example - but their general consensus is everything so far has been top notch.  They definitely give them a paws up.

Each box is themed, which the dogs could care less about, but it's fun for the humans.  The last one was ancient Egypt (Furaraoh), and the one before that was pirates.  I actually have saved the paper they use to package them and will do some sort of collage with them at some point.  And the Super Chewer toys fit the bill - they are built to last.  Sirius just loves them and carries one with him just about anywhere he goes.  Which brings me to my last problem, which I don't think Bark Box can help me with: I'm having a hard time making him differentiate between indoor and outdoor toys.  The Bark Box toys are supposed to be indoor toys.  That's a work in progress.

This is blurry - but I finally gave up trying to get a clear
shot of Sirius and his parrot - he moves too fast

Bottom line is this: I think my problem finding toys that can handle the man-handling of large adult collies with strong teeth and jaws has been solved.   And I no longer have to make separate stops when I leave the house for a while running errands to bring them treats home - I've got a supply now that I set aside for those purposes.  I'm definitely paying for it, but I was shelling it out anyway, so...it's a definite win in my book.  Thanks for the suggestion, Dear Readers!  And that's from all of us!

This is not two dogs making out - they are actually fighting over their latest toy