During a recent visit to PetSmart I found the Bamboo Brand tug-of-war toy that appeared to be well constructed. The tag indicated that it was built to withstand the toughest abuse that a dog could deliver. The seams appeared to be well constructed and the heavy nylon fabric seemed to support the idea that this was a tough toy. The toy is approximately a foot long, with a handle sewn into one end and a squeek toy embedded in the other end. The idea being that the owner holds the handle end and pulls against the dog who bites into the more thickly padded squeeker end.
I brought the toy home and found it to be an instant success. The toy was great fun to play with and my puppy was immediately interested. It was his favorite toy for the full seven days that it lasted. The stitching around the edges is reinforced with black nylon material. The interior is composed of fiber fill and the squeeker toy (which never broke). My puppy easily chewed through the seams around the entire perimeter of the toy. If I had used the toy for only tug of war and then put it away it may have lasted longer. Allowing my puppy to teeth on the toy destroyed it quickly. The nylon shredded into strings which quickly littered my carpet with red and black nylon and white fiber. It seemed like I was constantly picking up remnants of the toy as my puppy slowly dissolved the edges. After working his way through the seams around the handle he removed all of the fiber fill from the handle area which still managed to hold some shape. While working his way through the squeeker end of the toy, great gobs of fiber fill littered my floor. After seven days, the toy was destroyed to the point that it was simply dropping colored nylon on the carpet anywhere it happened to land. It found it’s way into the garbage can when the puppy wasn’t looking. My puppy is now content playing catch with his Kong toy...having long forgotten his brief romance with the Bamboo tug-of-war toy.
The Bamboo tug-of-war toy set me back fifteen dollars at PetSmart. That appears to be the going rate, although Epinions shows partners offering this toy for under ten dollars. I have had great success with Kong brand toys, which generally run around ten dollars each. For the price, I think that the Kong brand might be a better investment. However, I followed up my tug-of-war toy with a Kong Wubba, which is made of similar material. My puppy is quickly working his way through the Wubba which appears to be holding up slightly better but not by much. I guess the lesson here might be that puppies are going to destroy nylon toys in short order. For teething, I think I am going to stick with the rubber Kong toys and wait until my puppy is older to return to the softer nylon toys.
Read More About Bamboo Combat Tug Toy
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