Recently The Ginger Sisters were sent a new toy to review, the Puller. It is a simple ring toy that comes in one of my favorite colors: purple! The Puller is made of a unique material that was unlike any other toy I've seen, a kind of dense foam. The company promotes the toy as a "training device" which can solve virtually every health and behavior problem. While I find this a bit hyperbolic, I do believe this is great toy for many dogs and I know that it's become a favorite of some of my fellow bloggers.
The Puller comes in sets of two along with instructions for three different exercises or games which incorporate running, jumping and pulling. We unfortunately don't have the space for the fetch games, so it is utilized as a tug toy at my house. The standard size was too big for Boca to grab comfortably, so we used the mini set. As you can see, she is quite enthusiastic about tugging!
Ruby, who is usually my toy fiend, was not interested in The Puller which surprised me; however, I've found some ways to use it as a training tool! Since she isn't naturally interested in taking it in her mouth, it is a great thing to use to shape "take" for later trick training. I have also used it for touch/target and for body awareness by placing it on the floor and having Ruby put one or two paws inside the ring.
While The Puller is fairly durable, it is not meant to be used as a chew toy. Boca is always fishing it out of the toy box, but if left unsupervised I think she would soon have it torn to pieces. We reserve it for dedicated games of tug. I'm really happy to have found a toy that Boca enjoys so much, since I like to have one-on-one play time with each dog. If we had a yard I think we could have even more fun with it. The Puller can be purchased on Amazon - the mini set is particularly reasonable and is appropriate for dogs Boca's size (35 lbs) and under.
Disclaimer: I was provided two sets of Puller toys in exchange for my honest review. All
opinions expressed are my own and I only publish reviews for products I
feel comfortable using in the day to day life of my pets.
It looks like a fun toy. Mom doesn't pull with us so we are coming over to your house
ReplyDeleteLily & Edward
Come on over!
DeleteWhat a clever idea to use it as a target. Fun.
ReplyDeletePamela - I saw you mention Honey's nose-touch cue - do you also have a paw-touch? I would like to differentiate as Ruby uses her nose and paw interchangeably, but haven't been quite sure how to go about it. Certainly the first step is deciding which cue is which!
DeleteI had seen this floating around the pet blogging community and wondered how it differed so much from a regular rope tug toy. Then I realized it is different and Buster clearly needs this because he brings us regular non-tug toys just to tug. I'm excited to use it as a training tool too! I bought the standard size so I'm hoping it's not too big for his mouth.
ReplyDeleteI wish they had a middle size - the standard is really big. Let me know how Buster likes it!
DeleteThat looks like a cool toy!! I bet my dogs would like to play tug of war with it! LOL
ReplyDeleteThe material is really cool - their teeth can sink into it but then it springs back.
DeleteHow wide is the mini and do you happen to know how wide the standard is? Amazon is actually out of stock of the standard so I could cancel that order and order the mini if it's a better size match. I've tried but can't find dimensions anywhere on it.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find the dimensions or size guidelines on Amazon or the company website, Alix, although there might be something on the packaging. I can measure them when I get home, but I would say the mini is similar in diameter to a garden hose and the standard at least double that. How much does Buster weigh?
DeleteLove the expression in last picture!
ReplyDeleteBoca is such a funny girl.
DeleteBoca has a truly excellent tugging face!
ReplyDeleteI started to write a long stream of consciousness ramble about the training materials it came with, so instead of that, how about I just ask: how do you like the two toy games they propose? Do they seem, as advertised, somehow better than just ( for instance) giving the dog the tug toy back when she drops it?
Tldr: possibly a neat toy, but not sure it makes sense in our toy box, especially if the standard size is too gigantic. :/
No, Meghan, the games don't seem better to me and the advertising of what this product was capable of is really my only complaint. Certainly, exercising your dog will reduce health and behavior problems but you don't need any particular toy to do that.
DeleteYeah, I am so annoyed by the hyperbolic claims that I'll wait a while to add this toy, which would be a bit redundant for us.
DeleteAlso, we're teaching a back chained retrieve right now too! I'm using a folded up rag because too cheap to acquire a dumbbell, ha.
Looks like a great toy!
ReplyDeleteTug is an all time favorite at my house. I saw your video yesterday, looks like this toy is a big hit with Boca.
ReplyDeleteThat toy looks really fun for dogs who tug! How is "take" going? This for the cleanup trick right?
ReplyDeleteThe toy pick-up trick is an eventual goal as well as the one where the dog rolls itself up in a blanket. So far, I've been clicking/treating for any mouth contact but Ruby doesn't want to hang on.
DeleteIve seen this around often recently. I wouldn't mind trying it out with Bain, tug is his favorite game.
ReplyDeleteThe nice thing about it is that you can hold on to it anywhere and it doesn't get all slimy and gross.
DeleteLooks like the puller is making the rounds. I'll have to keep an eye on it, although I think it might be destroyed by my two if I forget to put it away.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely not a toy to be left out, Will. You can see all the teeth marks in the bottom photo, and Boca actually put a pretty big gash in the ring while I was taking pictures.
DeleteTorrey likes to pull, but other than her soft frisbee, I have never found anything she likes. She just might go for this one though.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a lot of fun! I bet Ginger dog would like one. :)
ReplyDelete