Product Review: Kyjen toys
When I was given the opportunity to review a selection of dog toys from the Kyjen company, Brody shot me a look that said, “You’d better take this one, lady.” Not that he isn’t as spoiled as they come anyway, but I’ll admit the majority of his playthings are the usual easily destroyed types that I get at the store. I was already interested after so many of you raved about the line when I was looking for suggestions for the Holiday Guide, so this was a no-brainer.
They sent a large assortment for our perusal.
From left to right, we have an Egg Baby, Huck Em, Magic Hat with Rabbit, Hard Boiled Softie, Squeaker Mat, and a Bottle Buddy (which is a cool way to recycle plastic water bottles.)
Before poor Brody even got a chance to investigate the booty, I had to play with them and do a squeak assessment. My three year old helped out. We decided the squeak mat was as delightfully loud and cacophonous as promised. (Which is a good thing, 3 am excepted of course.)
The true squeaky winner, though, was the Hard Boiled Softie- an unassuming penguin with a really hard rubber squeaky ball inside. When squeezed, he lets out a gasp not unlike a dying rhinocerous collapsing on top of an accordion, loud and drawn out and melodramatic.
Needless to say, Brody loved this one. He took it and followed my husband from room to room in the house going “squuEEAAAAAAAKKKKKkkkaaaaaaaaaa” over and over until it was confiscated. In other words, an enormous hit.
We did a few side by side comparisons to see if any of the other toys could compare to that one, as well as to his favorite toy, a large stick from the backyard out of frame on the left.
Hmm.
Well, I am a retriever after all, so let’s check out the other bird.
He liked this one well enough, until I pointed out to him it was STUFFED with SQUEAKY EGGS! Then the party really started.
He fished them out, threw them against the wall, chased them down the hill, and buried them in the holes he dug while I was setting up the camera.
Squirrel!
Then he carried it around and snuggled with it.
Hey kid, you’re blocking my light.
I was trying to get him to pick which bird he liked best, but then he saw an egg in the distance:
So intent on the egg was he that he didn’t even notice his ear flopping in the breeze.
Boy, did he feel dopey when I told him.
Brody hasn’t put a dent in any of them, but he is a little more gentle on toys than some other dogs. So, I’m going to pass these out to some friends with aggressive chewers, who have given up on finding squeak toys that last more than a day. We’ll see how they do.
I’d like to give at least one away too, but I can’t promise being organized enough to send it right now so I’ll probably hang onto them and give some away later this month.
