Saturday, December 7, 2013

Nina Ottosson DogCasino Plastic


THE BASICS
Brand: Nina Ottosson
Product: DogCasino Plastic
Size: 16.5 inches x 11.5 inches (approximate)
Color: Three different shades of blue
Availability: available
Website: http://www.nina-ottosson.com/DogCasinoplastic.php


This is my second puzzle toy by Nina Ottosson. The first one I introduced to you was Nina Ottosson DogBrick Plastic. If you missed it, please read the post as well for comparison.

As I did last time, I asked my people to keep the original box so you could all see how it is packaged. This is the box and the puzzle toy is inside. 


The back of the box. The information here is almost identical to the one on DogBrick box, but there is a little more product advertisement on this one. It is because this puzzle is newer in their line of products.


Skill level information: Hard! DogBrick was 'Medium' with two Beagles.


This toy is made of plastic, but it is not hard plastic that can break easily into sharp pieces Instead, it is textured, and, as this picture says, it is 'Tough and hard-wearing'. It is also 'water, dishwasher & slobber-proof'! My people usually wipe it with a damp cloth after I play, then once a while, they wash it thoroughly with dish soap and sponge. This seems to keep the toy pretty clean.


Look, a cat! This toy is meant to be for dogs, but if your cats are smart and like this kind of toys, they can enjoy it as well! Personally, I do not have any cat friends, but I assume they are pretty smart, and they can do a lot more with their paws than us dogs!


What was in the box: the toy, booklet, and a product DVD.


This is how the toy looks like. 


Let's look at the details first. The name of the toy is on the center top part.


And the company name as well as their website URL is on the bottom.


Measurement time! It is about 16.5 inches x 11 inches.



This is how this toy looks without the 'bones' that locks the drawers.


This is a bone shaped lock.


It has 'a leg' of the 'bone lock' is inserted into the hole on the toy to lock the drawers.


There are eight drawers and your people can put your kibbles or treats in each.


This is the hole that the bone shaped lock goes in. 


This is how it looks once the bone shaped lock is inserted properly.


These are the drawers. Not very big or deep, but my half-cup dinner can be evenly distributed nicely in these eight drawers.


As you may have noticed, there are decorations I made. This is because I use my teeth to open these drawers. My people try to teach me to use my front paw, but to me using my mouth is easier.


Picture instructions.


This is the back of the toy.


It has nice non-skid things on the legs.


When you turn over this toy when all drawers are open, it looks like this.


These drawers do not come out. There seems to be a locking mechanism. This makes washing of this toy a little difficult unless you have a large sink, according to my people.


When I played with this toy for the first time, my people did not use the bone shaped locks. I needed to learn how to pull out the drawers first. When I figured that out, my people introduced the locks, and all I had to do was to remove them. I had to decide if I liked to take all the locks first, or remove one lock and open the drawer underneath. Removing all locks first may be efficient, but I decided removing one lock and opening the drawer is more fun, and that is what I do when I play with this toy.

As usual, my video demonstration follows. Notice, I lost track of which bone shaped lock I removed and opened a different drawer. It is ok though: I managed to open all drawers and got all my kibbles!


SHIBA INU SAKI's VIDEO DEMONSTRATION!




My people still want me to learn to use my front paws to open the drawers because it seems easier than using my mouth. Well, I will see. Using my mouth for both removing the lock and opening drawers make more sense to me.

Would I recommend this toy? Absolutely! It is fun to lean how things work in this world. I had never opened any drawers, but now I know 'when I pull something, it may open'. Well, you should not try that with any drawers in your household, but in case I needed the skill for something in the future, I know how to do it now.

Thank you for reading the post and watching the video. I hope you enjoyed it!

Love, Saki


Saturday, November 30, 2013

PetSafe Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble


THE BASICS
Brand: PetSafe
Product: Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble
Size: Small (suitable dogs up to 20lbs)
Color: Blue translucent
Availability: available
Website: http://store.petsafe.net/busy-buddy-kibble-nibble


I had two food dispensing toys as a puppy, and used them consistently as I was a finicky eater and did not want to eat out of an ordinary food bowl. Now, I eat everything from any bowl and do not 'need' these toys for eating purpose. However, I sometimes get to play with them especially when my people feel I still have too much energy left at night.


My people added this food dispensing toy recently in my collection. It is called PetSafe Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble. It is similar to OurPets Smart IQ Ball: you roll it over and your kibbles or treats come out of the openings of the toy. However, because of its egg shaped body, it rolls differently from IQ Ball.

This is how it originally came. When you look for it in stores, it should look like this. 


Like OurPets Smart IQ Treat Ball and KONG Wobbler, this toy comes apart into two pieces.


After the tags were removed.


This is how the top piece and the bottom piece look like.


The bottom piece is about 3.5 inches diameter.


And the top piece is about 4 inches. Top piece screws on to the bottom, and it is naturally slightly larger.


There are two dispensing holes: one on the top of the top piece, and the other on the bottom of the bottom piece. They are about the same size, and one inch diameter.


It has rubber bumpers to protect the toy itself and your floor. It still makes a lot of noise because this toy is made of hard plastic, but these bumpers seem to help at least a little.


You probably have noticed these pictures of dogs playing with this toy. These stickers are attached to the toy. There are three of them. These dogs are all different breeds and different sizes. The company probably wants to promote that this toy can be enjoyed by any dogs in all sizes and ages. 


Although they are all cute, my people peeled them off for easy cleaning.


Now, let's look at these labels. These two labels used to be one piece: the bottom one was inserted in the toy, which was attached to the top one.



This is the back of the top label.


Your people can cut one of the rubber things at the opening if your treats are not dispensing easily. My people did not think that was necessary, and I played it as is when this toy was given to me for the first time.


This is my dinner. A half cup of kibbles.


When I started rolling over this toy, my people realized that the opening was not big enough for the size of my kibbles.


I think my kibbles are in an average size, but there was no way they could come out of this opening.


So, my people decided to cut one of the 'Treat Meter' prongs. It was rather difficult to cut this prong because my people did not have a pair of tiny scissors. After this was done, kibbles came out more easily.


As for the dubber bumpers, it is easy to make decorations to them. I did not chew on the toy, but I made quite a few teeth marks here and there while I was trying to get my kibbles out.


Now, size comparison of all three food dispensing toys I have.


And, of course, video demonstration follows. Enjoy!


SHIBA INU SAKI's VIDEO DEMONSTRATION! 



These three food dispensing toys are all different, and they are fun. My favorite? It depends. If I my people feel I have energy to burn, they would choose OurPets Smart IQ Ball. If they feel they want to give me some fun while I eat, they would offer me KONG Wobbler. I guess Busy Buddy Kibble Nibble is sort of in between.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Nina Ottosson DogBrick Plastic


THE BASICS
Brand: Nina Ottosson
Product: DogBrick Plastic
Size: 16 inches x 11.5 inches (approximate)
Color: White, cream, and brown
Availability: available
Website: http://www.nina-ottosson.com/DogBrick-Plastic-2.php


This is a recent addition to my 'does not stay in my toy bucket' toy collection. I can play with the toys that are in my toy bucket anytime, but there are a few toys my people keep in a special place where I cannot sniff. So, when they come out of the closet, I get very excited.

This is Nina Ottosson's DogBrick. This toy is not brand new any more, but my people kept the box and put it back in so you can see how it originally came.


This is the back of the box. It has quite a bit of information.


This picture with three dogs shows that this toy can be enjoyed by any age dogs and any size dogs. I agree. If you are a very young dog and love to chew plastic, you may want to play with this toy when your people are around.


This picture on the bottom of the box shows the 'Skill Level'. This toy is 'Medium', and it is not very easy, but it is not very difficult. I agree. I could figure out how it works on the very first day I tired it.


Let's see what's in the box. The puzzle toy, a booklet, and a DVD.


The booklet and DVD explain all puzzle toys the company offers.


So, this is the puzzle. It is made of plastic. It is not shiny hard plastic, and has a little bit of grainy texture. This makes grabbing easier for us, especially to grab the white bone shaped pieces with our teeth. 


This toy has two different types of compartments where your people can put kibbles or treats for you. The first one is the middle row and these four compartments are hidden under the white bone shaped pieces.


This space is quite big.


The second compartments are under these brown pieces. It is like a sliding door, and you slide these to reach there. It has small space underneath, and your people can hide your treats here as well. However, this space is not that big or deep, so your big dog biscuit would not fit.


The bottom side of the puzzle.


There are six rubber things so the toy does not keep sliding on the smooth surface.


The white bone shaped 'cap' has a hole so we can sniff the goodies underneath.


The reverse side of the bone.


 This puzzle is pretty big, but you work on one compartment at a time, and it is perfect size for me.


About 16 inches x 11.5 inches. 


 This is how the white bone sits in the compartment.


The brown sliding lids have bone shaped 'handle', which makes it easier to open. I usually use my nose and mouth to play with this toy, and these handles work very well.


Since this toy is made of plastic, cleaning is very easy. After I finish playing, my people wash it using regular dish soap. When it is dried for a while, it looks as new!


Now, watch me play with this toy!


SHIBA INU SAKI's VIDEO DEMONSTRATION!




This video was filmed at about the fifth time I played with this toy. The very first time I played with this puzzle, my people did not use the white bone shaped caps. I just had to learn to slide open these brown lids.  I got it right away. The next time, my people added the white bones. I could smell my kibbles below, and it was no problem for me to learn how to remove them. I also learned the order of things: first you need to remove the white bones in order to slide brown lids.

Although this toy requires 'Medium' skill level, I think most of you can figure it out pretty easily. And, it is fun to play. I recommend this puzzle to my fellow pooches!.

* By the way, the reason why I sat after the first release command was because I thought I heard something different. That was why my people had to say the second 'ok'. My people sometimes say words close sounding but different to make sure I know the word correctly.