Tuff Dog Toys: Finn’s Review

The movie-star handsome,
Finn

Finn is one strong boy. Sweet and very gentle with Sophie, he’s still a 80 lb, 4-year-old black Labrador Retriever, with paws the size of mitts. He is a handsome devil, though. Really handsome. And, after reading his review, you lady dogs might be swooning a bit. Because of Finn’s sheer mass, strength and ability (and proclivity) to utterly demolish his toys, I figured what better tester to truly determine tuff dog toys than our neighbor and friend, the Finnster! I’m going to turn it over to him, now. His mom, my good friend Aileen, translates. I should add here, that a representative of a major dog toy manufacturer shared with me that no toy is truly indestructible. All toys eventually need to be replaced. But when we’re done, other parents of tuff toy destroyers will have some great choices to buy with confidence. Hey, Finn! You ready?

Finn loving his Gorilla Ball

Gorilla Ball

I love love love this toy! Woof!! It’s my most favorite of all of the new toys. I take it to bed, walk around my house with it, greet my mom and dad with it. I love that I can squeeze it hard and my teeth won’t puncture it. The prongs feel good on my gums! And the little tyke from Puppies Behind Bars who visited us this past weekend liked it, too. I gave him a break and let him play with it a bit. It’s good to share (at least my mom tells me that). This toy is a big winner!

Pros:

• truly tuff
• baby toy safe – BPA, PVC & Phthalate Free
• comes in four sizes and assorted flavors, including tangerine, spearmint, blueberry & cherry
• it bounces & floats
• it’s ultra light
• massages teeth & gums

Cons:

Finn (and his mom) couldn’t find any!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Where to buy: Amazon

Price: $2.69 – $12.07

Finn playing with the
Bionic Urban Stick

Bionic Urban Stick

I really really liked this toy, too. I don’t know if my mom told you, but I loveeee carrying sticks, big sticks especially. And this stick is strong! I wasn’t able to nick it, pull a chunk out of it, nothing. I also love that I can do lots of things with this toy. I can carry it around my house, which I do. I can play tug with my mom or dad, and that was fun. Mom throws it for me, so I can play fetch, and she even put some peanut butter in the side, so I could have a treat and a toy in one! That was awesome! One toy I can do so many thing with, I gotta love that.

Pros:

• passed the tuff toy test
• splinter-free and no sharp edges
• made from recycled materials, so it’s eco-friendly
• it’s contoured ridges make for easy throwing grip
• has many uses –  treat stuffer, tug, chew, fetch or water toy…apparently, it floats!

Cons:

• there weren’t enough hours in the day to play with it

Rating: 5 out of 5

Where to buy: Amazon

Price: $21.05 – $49.54

The Kong Marathon Ball
after replacement bone

Kong Marathon Ball

I liked this toy because it has food in it! The people at Kong must’ve known they call me the Hoover. If there’s food around, I’ll find it and gobble it up. The treat was good, so while it lasted, I played with this toy. It was pretty strong, I was only able to make a couple of little tears in the edges where the bone treat goes. That is, until mom put the replacement bone in. I was especially in the mood for a treat that day, and once I got my mitts and teeth into that thing, this marathon was over! One more thing. This doesn’t have anything to do with me, but I did see my mom working hard to get that replacement treat into the ball. It didn’t look like a breeze or anything.

Pros:

• pretty strong. Withstood my chewing power through the first bone treat
• it has food, silly!

Cons:

• I was able to make little tears in the ball around where the treat was pretty quickly, and then ripped it entirely working on the replacement treat
• putting in the replacement treat is tough for mom!
• was mostly interested in this because it has food

Rating: 3 out of 5

Where to buy: Amazon

Price: $8.10 – $13.43

Tire Trax

I’m feeling a little sad dictating the review of this toy to my mom. I really liked it and loved carrying it around the house. Maybe some of my fellow dogs would play nicely with this toy, but once I sunk my teeth into Tire Trax, it begged for mercy. Probably my favorite thing to do the day I got it (or I should probably say couple of hours I played with it) was to rip pieces of this toy out and throw them on the floor. You can see me having a great time doing that in the video below. This one was easy for me to kill, even though it says “industrial strength” on the package. Hehe…But I did love playing with it and my mom told me if she wasn’t so worried about me swallowing all of the pieces, she wouldn’t have taken it away. I was bummed. She told her friend [that’s me, folks] that it failed the mom test and it failed the dog test. Oh, well.

Pros:

• I really liked carrying this toy around and playing with it

Cons:

• I ripped the guts out of this toy (that’s just an expression; I really ripped lots of little pieces out of it)
• It did not pass the tuff toy test
• It did not pass the mom test for safety

Rating: 1 out of 5

Where to buy: Amazon

Price: $8.39 – $18.95

Finn going at the PB in his
Planet Dog Diamond Double Tuff toy

Planet Dog Diamond Plate Double Tuff

I wasn’t interested in this toy, at first. Mom will say once she put PB in there (that’s peanut butter for those of you who don’t have dogs or kids), I was all over it. And, it stood up to that. It is a tuff toy, which is what mom told me I am testing. But, one of the things this toy can do is bounce, and I never knew where it would bounce! I really liked that.

Pros:

• it passes the tuff toy test
• it smelled minty-nice
• it bounces!

Cons:

• Unless my mom bounces it for me or puts PB into it, I’m just not that interested

Rating: 4 out of 5

Where to buy: Planet Dog

Price: $8.95 – $15.95

Finn, you did a heck of a job! We now have proven, dog-tested results! That doesn’t mean that for less aggressive chewers, the toys that didn’t pass muster wouldn’t be a good choice. But for the destroyers, the ones where 20 minutes after you get the new toy home, it’s garbage-bound? This review is for you! Hope it was helpful. Thank you, Finn, for offering to be our official tuff toy reviewer. Thank you, Aileen, for the mom’s input, making this review possible.

Do you have any tuff dog toys to recommend? We’d love to know. Share in the Comments below.

(Disclaimer: I am an affiliate of Amazon, and the opinions and point of view in this post is entirely my own. Please refer to the Disclosure and Disclaimers page on this site for more info. Thanks!)