Sometimes I think I might as well give my dogs money to chew on because they can destroy a normal dog toy in minutes. Lasting a day is notable.
For gnawing, deer antlers win out around here, paws down. But this search has been for toys, those that can be tossed and tugged by people and dogs alike.
So we are always on the lookout for a toy made to last. For years we’ve been disappointed, but 2014 has been a good year for dog toy manufacturers. We’ve found several that are holding up.
Now, mind you, I would not waste your time with toys that lasted a couple days or weeks. These have held up for months — truly noteworthy! Today I’ll tell you about my new favorite plush toy.
Let me give huge props to this new line, called Fluff & Tuff, that I discovered at Petsakes in Des Moines. I have been amazed by one Fluff & Tuff toy, “Peanut the Chipmunk,” because it has been in my house for several months now and still has all seams intact. This line was new at Petsakes and I thought if they were confident enough to put the word “Tuff” in their name and “durable” in their description, I’d give them a try.
At $11.75, I was game, but my expectations were not high and for good reason: Peanut had a tail. Those of you who live with canine toy terrorists know what I mean. The first thing that goes is anything that sticks out—eyes, ears, tails, feet. Any cute detail is amputated immediately.
So as we all do with the “new” toy, I let them play with it a bit but put it up. But after a while we all eventually forget to take that new toy away and they play with it to death.
So I looked this company up. Good news is that this is a Detroit-based company; the bad news is that the products are made in China, BUT I believe the company owners are doing an exceptional job of quality control. These toys are produced in a factory certified by the International Council of Toy Industries. Didn’t expect that.
Then, all toys are double scanned to verify there are no metal objects. Nice.
An ultra plush fabric with a mesh liner is used, the seams are double stitched and concealed. I didn’t think it was possible to hide a seam from my two Pointers.
And they list a new, non-toxic polyester fiber stuffing. Can polyester be toxic? Well, it is polyester. At our house everything usually gets gutted and tossed before there is any chance of ingestion.
So Peanut lives on and will likely be joined by other toys from the Fluff & Tuff stable.