Our next review is of The eGGe®, a unique seemingly indestructible dog toy that is designed for the most high-energy dogs.

When we first opened eGGE, we thought, “Wow this is much bigger than I thought!”.   We immediately knew that introducing this larger than average toy with 2 high energy dogs in a small indoor area wasn’t the best of ideas, and immediately hit the great outdoors. 

One big reason contributing to the eGGE’s sturdiness is it’s shape.  The oblong oval shape prevents dogs from biting down and holding on, like they would during a good old fashioned tug-of-war, that usually ends up with a trip to the toy graveyard (at least in our office).

Although we didn’t make it to the beach, we understand it also floats, which could be fun for doggy swimmers.

The eGGE is very sturdy, and would be great for large, high energy dogs with alot of room to run and play outdoors and for dogs who love a good challenge. 

For those dogs who make it a game to play in their water bowl, Petoria’s Buddy Bowl® is a great water bowl concept to deter all of the playing and spilling and encourage more drinking.  If you have a dog that forever plays in his or her water bowl, and nothing else has worked, the Buddy Bowl is definitely something to try. 

Our official testers first looked and sniffed as if to question if it was for them or not (“this doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen before, but I’m curious to see what’s inside!”) and quickly caught on when placed next to their food.  Even for one tester who is suspicious of anything new that is introduced to her, after a few sniffs and drinks she figured it out and took to it very quickly.  

 The Buddy Bowl is very easy for us humans to use and pretty much error proof.  The design of the bowl makes it so that even if turned upside down, the water will never spill.  We found this especially useful on a test car trip using the Buddy Bowl as a travel water bowl.  With large energetic dogs we have NEVER put a traditional bowl of water in a moving car but with The Buddy Bowl, there was absolutely no hesitation and it was great to know that on the way home from a nice long run, the dogs had clean fresh water available to them at all times.

Our testers give it the official Paws Up!

An interesting test this morning showed me  that you have to stick with old faithful when it comes to tennis balls. 

I usually buy nothing but Wilson original tennis balls for my 11 month old Rottie, but in a moment of desperation, we recently picked up a pack of “Hyperdog” brand tennis balls at Target.  

They are a little smaller than original tennis balls, but I thought I would give it a try. 

In less than 3 minutes, here was the result:  

This can be very dangerous to pets, as bits and pieces of ingested tennis balls are a very common reason for emergency and very costly veterinary visits.   

Never, never leave a pet unattended with any tennis ball, and please use extreme caution with this brand if you have a heavy active chewer!

This post about Pet Insurance is inspired by Invisible Voices .  The following links take you to some great research that they have done on Pet Insurance including a great amount of feedback from pet owners, which I find is the most useful when talking about any pet product. 

I hope you find the links and comments useful.  Please tell us what you think, if you have pet insurance, and if so, your experience.   

“Pet” Insurance, Part 1
“Pet” Insurance, Part 2 – Money
“Pet” Insurance, Part 3 – Companies and Options
“Pet” Insurance, Part 4 – Reviews
“Pet” Insurance, Part 5 – two additional companies, overview

Interesting points I would like to add that I did not see were addressed (unless I have missed it) is to ask whether the insurance underwriter is an Admitted carrier or Surplus Lines (Non-Admitted). 

It is my understanding that an Admitted carrier is subject to state insurance code, governing such aspects as company reserves and advertising and is licensed by each state.  An Admitted carrier must have the approval of the State Department of Insurance for all of their Policy terms and rates. 

A Surplus Lines insurer is not licensed in the state where the insured or risk is located although they must be licensed in their state or country of domicile.  Insureds with coverage from Admitted carriers have protection from state guarantee funds where as Surplus Lines insureds do not have that protection. 

With Surplus Lines, the Policy Terms and Conditions and the rates can be changed at a moments notice whereas with a Policy underwritten by an Admitted carrier, before any changes can be made, it must be reviewed by the State. 

Look on your Policy documents, where a Surplus Lines insurer is required to disclose this information. 

To read the entire Invisible Voices Blog follow this link. 

By personal request from our resident snake-a-phob, we must ask the question about Snake-A-Way.  Please help her before she locks herself in her house never to be seen again.  You see, there is a snake in her backyard, and she is convinced that its one and only mission in life is to terrorize hers.  We don’t know much about the product but

we found that Dr T’s website has an considerable amount of information about the product and I was pleased to see the amount of research done by the University of Florida.  Based on EPA testing a protocol “the product has been found to have a rate of efficacy that varies from 17% to 100% depending on the individual species.”

Conclusions to the studies further indicate that “SNAKE-A-WAY should significantly decrease occurrences”, although “Copperheads were strongly repelled by SNAKE-A-WAY, while the related cottonmouths were not.”    Interesting….

We couldn’t find anything on the Website directly addressing if this product is safe to use around pets, but as with any chemical the label of course directs consumers to “store in cool dry place inaccessible to children and pets”.  SO PLEASE USE CAUTION!!! 

So tell us, have you used it?  Does it work?  What is your experience?   

Have you ever had to wash a Great Dane at 5am after being sprayed by a skunk?  Wish you had this product on hand?  Tell us about your skunk experience and if you have used the product, Skunk Off.  If you have any other homemade tips that worked for you, we would love to know about them! 

Tell us about Skunk Off, or your homemade skunk remedy by submitting a comment below. 

Most dogs we know go crazy for these soft chewy treats, that are good for training.  What do you think?  Give it your rating from 1 (worst) to 5 (best)

To tell us about Milk-Bone Chewy Treats, submit your comment below

And no, it’s NOT a muzzle!  The Gentle Leader is a head harness and a humane alternative to choke chains or prong collars.  We would love your feedback if you have used one.  Please give it your rating of 1 (worst) to 5 (best). 

Tell us about the “Gentle Leader” by submitting a comment below.