Finding that perfect dog toy is not an easy task. Here at Furballfun.com we understand the frustration it can be to bring home a new toy and have it immediately destroyed or worse, not played with at all. Well never fear, Harvey is on the case with a new review for your furball friends. This week we look at the chipmunk dog toy by Spot from their Skineeez stuffing free line of toys.
Now, not all dogs are the same. Some chew, some tug, some profusely lick the newness away. Harvey is a great toy tester because he does all of these with his toys…able to rip apart the weak ones and pull a Mac Truck with the tough ones. His insatiable appetite for getting to the center of tootsie pop is unmatchable. So rest assured we are here to help you find toys that last, saving you money. With the most important factor being safety and keeping your pet happy!
Background of Ethical Products inc.
Before we jump into playing with the new fox Skineeez dog toy, let’s learn a little about the company behind this brand.
Ethicalpet.com is the site for products produced by Ethical Products Inc. They were formed back in 1952 and are a small company that produce award winning products for the pet industry. Marketing most of their products under the SPOT brand they have several sub-divisions that produce niche specific pet products for toys, dishes, and waste management, along with a wide variety of accessories.
With a mission of “providing the absolute best consumer value and customer service in the Pet Industry, while never losing sight of quality, innovation, safety, honesty and humanity”, Harvey is a big fan of their products.
SPOT Skinneeez Chipmunk Features
- Stuffing Free: with no stuffing on the inside of this toy, it certainly raises the bar for longevity and safety. Even if Harvey breaks the outside we don’t have to worry about him munching on stuffing material that could cause some health issues for our dog.
- Designed For Durability: with a rip-stop mesh the toy seems to hold it’s own against tearing.
- Plush Material: soft material on the outside is sometimes preferred by certain dogs.
- Multiple Squeakers: with one in the head and one in the tail this could be a good or bad thing. These squeakers are not the loudest or most annoying (in our opinion). The good part is that having one on each end allows you to squeeze it when playing tug of war.
SPOT Skinneeez Chipmunk Toughness
This toy is tough! Most toy makers these days like to claim the durability of their pet toys. The truth can be quite different. Although many factors come into play when testing the durability of dog toys there is perhaps none the better then longevity.
The Spot skinneeez Chipmunk has been with us for over a year. Harvey has played and played and played with this toy. Thus giving us a lot of value out of this purchase and giving Harvey a lot of fun. He has gnawed at it, chewed on it, and we have several hours of tug of way in the books.
The only “damage” this toy has taken is Harvey was able to deflate the two squeakers…fine by us. We haven’t had to amputate any limbs from this toy, albeit there are only a few, and there seem to be no other major puncture wounds. So for this toy to still be in our dog toy basket a year later, that says something.
For these reasons we give this toy 5 out 5 stars for toughness!
SPOT Skinneeez Chipmunk Safety
Ethical Products inc. designs their products with safety in mind. “We strive to use safe materials for the creation of healthy products. Our line is always changing to include the best new ideas for keeping pets happy and active.”
It should go without saying that whenever you give a pet a new product you should always supervise their use. This becomes even a greater factor after the toy has been used for a while. Supervised play is the best safety measure you can take for your furball friends.
So for us here at FurBallFun.com we focus on a few factors that can affect the safety score. The Skinneeez series are all no stuffing dog toys, giving this little chipmunk a +1 on the safety scale. Second, this particular toy doesn’t have any hard plastic eyes.
But there are a few concerns we noted when letting Harvey play with the SPOT toys. This one has two squeakers.That’s multiple opportunities for our dog to swallow one or at the very least chew on some plastic. Frankly, while the squeakers might be fun at first, for our dog, they could care less. We have plenty of non-squeaking toys that he loves. The final concern might be the couple of small legs coming off the chipmunk. These can be chewed off and swallowed. But at the end of the day, Harv has yet to chew either off and again without any stuffing on the inside it is a low level threat that we just be sure to keep an eye on.
For these reasons we give this toy 3 out 5 stars for Safety!
SPOT Skinneeez Chipmunk Fun Factor
This could arguably be one of Harvey’s go to choices. We love to lay out 3 different toys letting him choose which is his favorite. Now inevitably he will always pick the newest of the lot, but if the choices come down to a ball, rope, and the SPOT Skinneeez Chipmunk, the latter is his choice.
I believe he likes it for several reasons. First, our dog seems to prefer the softer toys. He can chew on them and likes to obsessively gnaw at their sewn parts. Second, the two squeakers allow him to garner some attention by biting the tail or head and trying to get one of us to play with him (which we do). But the final factor is what I believe he likes best about this toy…it’s long. He and I love to play some tug of war and although that can be done with a rope this soft but durable toy combines the best of both worlds. Tip: longer toys are beneficial to you as well because you don’t have to bend over as far to play, saving the ol’ back a bit.
For these reasons we give this toy 5 out 5 stars for the fun factor!
Tips To Increase Dog Toy Longevity
- Tip 1: switch up your pets toys frequently so they can’t just focus on one at a time. This not only increases the longevity of the toy but also keeps your pet mentally stimulated.
- Tip 2: amputate loose ends. Anytime we see parts of a toy being ripped off we cut it off. If you’re crafty you might sew it back on, but in most cases your dog won’t care either way. Cutting off loose ends also allows you to remove stuffing if there is any or those pesky squeakers. This tip is more about safety than longevity but some pet parents tend to believe a toy is done just because of one small rip.
Rating the SPOT Skinneeez Chipmunk Dog Toy
Factoring in all of our points made above, and the price to value ratio, we are overall pleased with this toy and would recommend it to other dog owners. Get your dog the SPOT Skinneeez Chipmunk here!
- Toughness: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Safety: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Fun Factor: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
More Toys To Come…
Harvey is living the best life, getting a new toy every month to his collection he has endless possibilities of fun and stimulation. We hope to provide you with unbiased reviews of these toys in the coming articles along with other tips and guides to giving your FurBall the Fun they deserve. Until next time…
Woof,
Harvey
