The Before….Photo Credit to Gizmodo.
With seven dogs between three people on one blog it’s little wonder we’re always acquiring new dog crap equipment and comparing pros and cons. The most recent acquisition by two of us here I know had many people smacking their heads in ‘Why didn’t I think of that’ frustration. The Product: Kong’s AirDog Off/On Squeaker. The premise is genius. A small sliding button on the side of the toy will silence what can be a deafening racket or allow your dog to go into paroxysms of murderous glee as they squeak and squawk, chewing their little brains out.
Product: AirDog Off/On Squeaker
Average Price: About $10.
Durability: Medium (Less than a Tennis ball but more than a Wubba)
Cool Factor: High
General Impressions
Fang: I was somewhat reluctant to purchase this toy (My dogs are shredders not players) but I had a coupon, plus 10% off and they were on a minor sale so dropping the $7 seemed minor. M, the Malinois loved it. He flea-ed it. He threw it up in the air and caught it. He cleaned it. He squeaked it with glee. He not-squeaked it with wonder… for two whole minutes. Z, my cattle dog who also goes by ‘The Destroyer of Things’ got a hold of the little wiener dog and bit off the end in 4.8 seconds. Now the toy is permanently silenced. Luckily M isn’t that bothered by it, though he does seem confused by the no squeaky-effect.
The After… *sigh*
Pros: It’s really nifty. No really, it’s cool. I love that I could have turned off the incessant noise that is my dogs with a toy. Colorful be that a plus or a minus. Kept my dog’s (albeit limited in span) attention. Pleasant feel. Bounces well. I assumed the slider-region would be the weakest area but as you can see… we never really got that far.
Cons: My cattle dog is a witch who refuses to let anyone have nice things. Not suitable for a ‘rear jaw’ grinder.
Potnoodle: My dogs aren’t self starters. They don’t play with toys by themselves, as a rule. I likes to play fetch, L likes to chase I and attempt to neuter him while he plays fetch. If I stuff food in something, they’ll try to get it out but that’s about the extent of it. There is one exception to this rule. Both of the Poodles love squeaking the “Air Kong” toys. Usually when I’m in the middle of an REM cycle. I am almost completely sure they are communicating with the overlords back on Planet Poodle. For whatever reason, if I ever leave an airkong down within reach… I will wake up to the death squeals of the ball. So when I spotted the on/off switch on the new Air Kong Off/On squeaker toys I was intrigued. I brought it home and gave it to L. She squeaked and was pleased. When she bored of it, I picked it up. He squeaked and was pleased. Then, I flipped the switch. I handed it back to I as L had gone back to her number one hobby, napping so that she can keep me up all night with squeaks. I bit down on the toy and the look of disappointment on his face was epic. Honestly, it’s worth the almost ten dollar price tag just to see the “WTF?” look on your dog’s face.
Pros: You can turn the frickin’ squeaker off! I mean, how cool is that? I’d like to shake the hand of the inventor.
Cons: L lost interest pretty fast, once the squeaker was gone she felt no need to keep chewing on it. Once you take out that faux murder sound, it becomes just an oddly shaped tennis ball and she has no interest in such mundane things.
Overall
A genius idea that should have a place in any reasonable-players’ toybox. It’s not as fragile in the slider-region as you would expect so concerns about it being destroyed quickly were (mostly) incorrect. I think for both of us the ‘cool factor’ certainly won out over some practical concerns, but if those are forefront, we’ll get over our hipsterness for a moment.
If you have a power-chewer, this probably isn’t going to be for you.
If you have a dog who doesn’t ruin toys like they’re aliens intent on destroying the universe or like they’re edible, it’s a cool addition and it kept the reasonable ones highly entertained while squeaky.
Stars: 7.25/11 (You didn’t expect scientific polling, did you?)
Our third snob, BusyBee chose not to participate in our initial product review as her charming, yet finicky pittie, T, would “destroy that shit in two seconds flat”. (And he would, too.)
Disclaimer: We weren’t compensated for this review in any way shape or form.
The Dog Snobs 
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