New Toys!

Hello, everyone.  It's me, Cammie!  Remember the other day when Maggie showed you her new box?  Several of you kindly asked what toys we got.  Now that we've tested them out a bit, we thought we'd fill you in.

It's very hard for Mom to find toys that can be left down, for free access all the time.  Maggie can chew through the black, toughest traditional KONGS in a matter of minutes -- that should give you an idea of what Mom's up against.  She actually thought I was a super-chewer before we adopted Mags.  Anyway, Mom did some reading up on these toys by West Paw Design - the Zogoflex line - and thought they might stand up to Maggie.

And me.

I got to play with the Zogoflex Tux.

"Here it is!"

It's sort of like three connected balls. There's a space in there where Mom COULD put a really big cookie if she wanted to. Ahem.  Just a thought.

Maggie got a Zogoflex Jive!  It's a solid ball with some contouring to it.

"I like this!"

Mine is fun to chew on. Maggie's is, too, plus Mom can throw it and it takes all these whacky bounces. It keeps her busy and interested!  I mean Maggie - not Mom.

We got to play with them again during TV time last night - and Maggie chose to play with the Jive ball over watching a show with Vikings in it! That says a LOT about how much she likes it!

"I just love this Zogo---WAIT!  Is that Uhtred?"

Well, it held her interest more than other toys.  And who could blame her?  The Last Kingdom was on!!!

And me?  I actually really like the Zogoflex Tux!

"See, Mom?  You could tuck a big treat right in HERE!"

So far, they're holding up really well, so Mom is pleased.  They could well make the cut as "leave down all the time" toys!  If you have pups who are very hard on toys like we are, you might want to give these a try!  They come in other shapes, too, but Mom thought these stood the best chances with us.  You can find the Zogoflex Tux and Zogoflex Jive lots of different places, to include Chewy.com and Amazon.com.  Oh.  Another thing Mom likes is that she can stick them in the dishwasher if they get funky!

We purchased these toys on our own; they are not a part of any free offer.  We just thought we'd tell you about them because it's hard to find "durable" toys that really ARE "durable".

Are you hard on toys?  Are there any recommendations you would make?  We'd love to hear about them!

Cammie!

Toys! Toys! Toys! In The ... Living Room

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Many, many thanks to all of you (here in the blogosphere and on FaceBook!) for the wonderful birthday wishes yesterday!  I must say, so far being three is a BLAST!

As Cam mentioned, the weather was all rainy then hot and steamy, so a pool party wasn't really in the cards.  Instead, we got to play with some of our KONG Dental toys.  Like most toys in our house, these are "use under supervision only" when it comes to yours truly.

I got the one shaped like a ball:

Do you like my nose scrunchie?

And Cam got the one shaped like a stick:

Cammie!

It's harder to get chunks off the ball.

"OH, yeah!  Cam!  Check it out!"

... unless you're a pro at this sort of thing.

"That's awesome, Maggie!"

"Thank you!  Thank you very much!"

What a fun day!  I also did zoomies, got to have a whole baby carrot, sampled some cantaloupe and a peach, and watched a little TV.  And played with toys.  Toys.  Toys in the ... living room.  Yep.  Being three is GREAT!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Try Outs

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  I hope everyone had a great weekend - did you do anything exciting?  Cam and I tried out some new toys Mom ordered for us!

Since some of our other West Paw Zogoflex toys are doing well (the Jive Ball is even a "leave down all the time" toy!), Mom treated us to two different kinds! She thought Cammie could try the Tizzi:

"That looks fun!  Do I smell Old Mother Hubbard cookies in there?"
"I could chew those legs off in no time!"

And, because it looks a bit more "substantial", I got to try the Toppl:

"I can see OMH cookies through the peep hole!"
"Looks good, Mom!  We're ready to give those babies a test drive!"

If anyone is wondering, those are both the "large" ones.

Anyway, she gave us our toys and we could basically take them anywhere we wanted to. We both opted to take them here:

"Nom nom nom..."
"Nom nom nom..."

They were fun! And let me just add that Old Mother Hubbard bakes a mighty tasty cookie.

Once we got the treats out, we stockpiled the toys and moved on to other activities.

"Hey, Cammie.  Do you want to..."
"YES!"

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

Very fun toys -- we got back to them eventually.  I got to try out the Tizzi for a couple minutes, then I switched back to the Toppl.  Oh.  And yeah.  The Toppl seems to be missing a small chunk of yellow/green/whatever color it is rubber.  At least I didn't swallow it!

So what did you do over the weekend?  Anything fun?  Did you try anything new?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

PS:  Mom purchased these toys, we did not receive them from any corporate sponsor to review.  We just are always on the look out for sturdy, safe toys.  These are both "under supervision only" toys, but they at least are ones we'll be able to play with for a while!

Toy Time!

Greetings to all, it's me, Maggie!  I thought you might like to see what I've been playing with lately, when I'm not out enjoying our snow. Now that I'm getting my big girl teeth, I like to chew ALL the time, as opposed to before when I wanted to chew when I wasn't napping. Hmm. I guess it's just that I'm not napping as much. At any rate ...

"Ready to take a look?"

Let's see what's in the toy box!

"SQUEAK!!!"

I like that ball a lot. It's squishy, yet sturdy, and squeaks louder than you can imagine. It's great!

"It requires two hands.  Errr... paws."

Quite durable. It's by Mighty Balls dog toys.

We also got a package from our Aunt Shelli. Well, technically, it was for Mom, but we knew Aunt Shelli would have something in there for us, too! Zim helped Mom unpack.

"It's from Aunt Shelli alright!  And there are things in here for us Sibes!"

I could have helped with that part! It's not like I'd chew the box up and swallow a bunch of cardboard or anything! (I have no knowledge of the chewed lower right-hand corner, nor of the wet marks at the bottom of said box.)

Moving right along, not only did Aunt Shelli send us some treats, but she sent fun toys, too! Cammie immediately made off with this one:

"I LOVE this toy!  Thank you, Aunt Shelli!"

Because Aunt Shelli and my mom refer to me for some strange reason as "The Energizer Bunny" (?), she also sent us a bun-bun! It was yellow and squishy and squeaked and was just so incredibly fun!!!

Oh. Yes. I did use the past tense there, didn't I? Someone committed bun-o-cide, but I can't comment.  The case is still under investigation.  The Case of the Shredded Bunny.  I'll let you know if I hear anything further.

Like Cammie, I also like the ball of rings:

It's very fun to chew on and to chase! For some reason, we don't have access to that one all the time. Nor to my Mighty Ball. Apparently, there are toys we can leave out and toys we can't. I have no idea why.

"No comment."

I also have no idea what happened to my Freeze'N Chew toy.

Most of our Kong toys are available to us whenever we want them.  Here I am, with my Kong ball:

"Hello."

It's very fun!  We have quite a variety of sizes and shapes.  Here's a look at some of them:

Me, with some of my favorite toys
Top to bottom:  Zim, the bone, my iPad, me with the dumbbell, the regular Kong, and the dental stick

For some reason, the black ones are holding up better than the red ones. I think my tire is missing from that shot and my Kong ball.  Sometimes Mom puts treats in the Kong toys and sometimes she doesn't. We also sometimes get poultry-flavored toothpaste in them! I like chewing on them whichever way! I just like to chew.

That's what we've been playing with lately!  What about you?  Do you have any favorite toys?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Dental Health Month

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Did you know February is Pet Dental Health Month?  It's true!  And as part of the celebration, we were asked to review a product by the KONG Company!  A very nice lady named Abby wrote our mom and asked if we'd be willing to participate.  We normally don't accept offers like this, but (a) we love KONG products and have quite a few of them already and (b) we're going through toys around here lately like you wouldn't believe!  Mom jumped on it!

We received some literature in the package; I read it to everyone:

"Gather 'round, everyone!"

It's all about how we pups love to chew. Mom kept looking at Maggie while I was reading it for some reason. Anyway - here are the products we were asked to review:

Maggie, me, and two KONG Dental Chews!

Don't those look great?!? They are designed to be stuffed into a KONG, to keep you chewing for a long, long time!

These aren't on Zimmie's prescription diet, of course, so us girls did the testing. OH! Don't worry. We didn't want Zim to feel left out, so Mom took our KONG Stuff-a-Ball and stuffed some frozen Stinky Goodness (his canned prescription food) into a couple of the grooves.

"WOWZERS!"

Mom stuffed the Chews into KONG toys for Maggie and me.  Mine was put into a traditional red KONG Classic ...

"YEA!"

... and Maggie got hers in a KONG Classic - the extreme/black kind.

"I love this!"

As Maggie has mentioned, KONG toys are the only thing that holds up to her super jaws and teeth.  In fact, it's only the KONG black/extreme ones now.  Mom has already emailed the people at KONG about this, but if anyone else from the company is reading our blog post -- is there any way you'd consider making some of the Dental toys out of the black/extreme rubber?  Just thought we'd ask.

I eventually got my Dental Chew out of the KONG:

"Oooh!  Go, me!"

I can devour similar-sized chews in a matter of seconds, but this one actually lasted about 15 minutes!  Mom was quite happy with that - and happy that I didn't try to swallow it whole.

Zim had a lot of fun with the Stuff-a-Ball; he really doesn't play with toys much, so that delighted Mom.  She decided to take the KONG Dental (the barbell) and squirt some toothpaste in the grooves for him.  He really liked that, too:

"This is so great!  I love chicken-flavored toothpaste on a KONG!"

Meanwhile, Maggie was still working on hers over in 10 Downing Street:

"Chew, chew, chew!"

She eventually got her Dental Chew out of her KONG, too.  It lasted maybe 20-25 minutes!  That has to be some sort of longevity record!

"Do you need any help, Maggie?"
"No, thank you, Cam.  I'm almost done!"

I was just trying to be a good, thoughtful big sister.  Ahem.  You know.  She's just a little puppy and she might not have been able to finish the whole thing.

Once she was finished, she went to get a beverage.  I thought I'd check things out:

"Wait!  This might be a tiny flake of it!"

Unfortunately for me, there were no remnants of the chew to be found in 10 Downing Street.  That's one of the things Mom liked about these chews, as opposed to some of the others we've tried -- no mess!  Also, no strong smell.

Here's our summary - Maggie and I loved the KONG Dental Chews; Zim can't have any, due to his restricted diet, but he loves KONG Dental Toys stuffed with things he can have.  The chews lasted longer than similar ones we've tried, without the mess or strong odor.  Mom would never give these or any other kind of chew to us unsupervised, as there is always a chance we would try to swallow them whole.  (Call it an occupational hazard of being Siberian Huskies; it's just who we are!)  AND ... if there are any product developers out there from the KONG Company who are reading this, please consider making Extreme/black KONG Dental Toys for overachievers like Maggie.  Thank you.

Many thanks to Abby from the KONG Company for inviting us to participate and for the yummy Dental Chews!  What a great way to celebrate Dental Health Month!

Cammie!

PS:  Disclaimer:  We were not paid for this review, but did receive the two free KONG Dental Chews.  The KONG toys shown in this post are ones we already had on hand.  We've since ordered more, as someone got some chunks off the barbell the other night, and we need new Dental Sticks and Jump'n Jacks.  No need to point the paw at anyone in particular, but that certain someone is pretty much only getting Extreme KONG products from now on.  And lots of LONG walks now that her recovery period after her spay is over!!!

PPS:  We have a special set on Flickr of our product review.  Click here to view.

Power Chewer

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  As most of you know, there are toys in this house that are "Cammie Only" toys.  Apparently, I'm somewhat of a power chewer.  The only toys that stand up to my teeth 'n' jaw action are my GoughNuts rings and sort of my Starmark ball.  (I destroyed the other Starmark toys, so Mom keeps close tabs on the ball.)  Those are the only ones left out all the time for us.

ANYWAY, when Cammie gets her special toys (Mom gets them out of the Toy Vault - aka, the pantry), I get special toys, too - only mine are tougher!  The other day, I chose one I used to play with as a puppy:

"I'll play with this one, Mom!"

Yep. My KONG Traxx!

"Ohhhh, yeah!  Love that 'super tough' rubber!"

I used to love this thing!  I used to spend hours on end playing with it.  

"I love time with my special toys!"

This was just like old times!

"Oh.  Hey.  How did that happen?"

Yep.  Just like old times ... only apparently "hours on end" go by a lot faster now.  I think they take 5-10 minutes.  Oops.

It's still fun, though!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Toy Time!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  The other day, Mom wanted to spend some time in her Studio, and invited Cam and me to join her.  She brought out some of our special "under supervision only" toys and said we could play with them while she sewed.

"Look, Cam!  It's our cool virtually indestructible Fire Hose toys!"
"Whatever."

Don't let her nonchalant demeanor fool you - she loves playing with those toys as much as I do!  She just likes to hold hers for a while, then she eases into chewing -- like so:

Cam, playing with her Fire Hose toy

Me? I'm a straight-up chewer!

"Ha!  'Virtually indestructible'!  We'll see about that!"

It really didn't take long before ...

"Maggie?"
"Well, Mom, as the other Margaret Thatcher most likely said a time or two,
'I have no comment at this time'."

I mean, everyone in politics uses that line, don't they?

Mom and I admired my handiwork for a minute or two ...

"Oh, yeah, Mom!  I DO put the 'virtually' into 'virtually indestructible', don't I?  Go, me!"
"La la la la la la la..."

... and then ...

"Mom said I'm done with my toy.  Can I use yours now?"
"Umm..."

"I'm still playing with mine, Maggie."

Mom said I was a good girl, and encouraged me to leave Cammie alone. We got another toy for me instead. Mom says as long as I do this to toys and not to other things, she's very happy! I think she might like my toys as much as I do!

Do you like spending time with your toys as much as I do?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Serene Sunday

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie.  This is a little bit of a different Sunday post for us - we've been out walking, but Mom didn't take any photos of serene scenery.  Something about an 87 pound camera not pairing up well with a torn rotator cuff ... but we aren't sure of details.  ANYWAY, we do have some serene photos for you and they started a bit like this:

"Hi, Mom.  Can we do special chew toys or shall I just use Cam's neck?"
"Please, Mom!"

See, Maggie gets tired of her GoughNuts toys and needs something else to chew on. Other than me, that is. So, under supervision, there are other toys we can chew on!

Me and Mags with our toys

I have a KONG dental stick and Mags has a KONG tire. Mom crammed a treat into each and oh, did we have fun chewing!

This is me with my toy:

"I love this toy!"

Maggie used to be allowed to use this type of toy, but once she got her big-girl teeth in, she would tear chunks off these in a matter of seconds. Her KONG toys are the black kind:

"Here's my toy, everybody!"

She can get chunks off those, too, but not as fast.  Same with the traditional style of KONGs.  As long as Mom is watching, she's good to go.

Me, making sure I got all traces of the treat out

I love playing with our toys. It gives us both a great sense of peacefulness.

Don't worry. I know she's behind me.

And guess what?!?  Our visitor arrives tomorrow!!!  Do you know who's coming yet?

Cammie!