Black Friday. Cyber Monday. Blah, blah, blah. I’m watching less and less TV these days, so I missed all the hype over rampant consumerism flaring to a frenzy for the holiday season. Everyone MUST be shopping online today because for a first-day-back-at-my-desk-after-a-week-off day, it’s eerily quiet. Cue the crickets.
That’s fine by me since I’m still woefully beset by terrible germs. Yep. Nearly 2 full weeks of respiratory rumblings, and I swear I’ve coughed my spine out of alignment. The kink in my neck, I tell you.
So, while everyone else is posting their holiday gift picks, I’ve decided to go an entirely different direction. Call it humbuggery, if you must, but here is what I’m thinking …
Do dogs love toys?
Yes.
Will I buy Lilly and Ginko some new toy for the holiday?
Probably.
BUT, really? All our dogs want is time with us. They want our undivided attention. Be it spent:
- Cuddling
- Playing
- Training
- Walking
- Just hanging out
So, the girls of Champion of My Heart would like to remind you that the BEST GIFT you can give your dog … is your time and attention and love. Sure, toys are great, but it’s more about you and your relationship with your dog.
Lilly’s Favorite Toy Giveaway
That said, I promised to report back on the quest to find stores that carry Lilly’s all-time favorite ball. You can read our product review and watch our product review video of the Hartz DuraPlay Ball by clicking through.
After sending a desperate email to that Hartz team that attended BlogPaws West, I learned that these very special balls, the only ones on the PLANET that Lilly will fetch can be found at the following stores:
- Walmart
- Kmart
- Theis
- Super Valu
- Philip’s Feed
- Wakefern
- Albertson’s
- Associated Food Stores
- Several other small grocery chains
We only have Walmart, KMart and Albertson’s stores here in Colorado. I did not have time to check one of each, but our nearest Walmart did indeed have the entire DuraPlay line in stock … although they only had 2 balls on the shelf the day I was there, so I bought them both.
I know that dog toy makers like to come up with new toys to keep product selection fresh, but Lilly likes the small ball the best. (We know for sure because Hartz recently sent us the products labeled D and C from this particular line.)
As thanks for being such RAVING fans of this ball, the Hartz folks were nice enough to give us a whole box of DuraPlay Balls to give away.
SO, to counteract our Cyber Monday grinchiness, we’ll give away one ball each to the first 10 (ten) people who post a comment to this blog post.
I’ll email winners privately to get snail mail addresses.
Ho ho ho … I guess.
***
FTC Disclosure
Hartz gave us these toys to give away. I did not buy them.
Cosmo LOVED his DuraPlay ball — in fact he destroyed the under part of the sofa trying to dig it out. But now that he has the medium DuraPlay bone, that toy has become his paws down favorite. (It’s D in your pic above). I don’t know what they put in the DuraPlay, but whatever it is, it’s like catnip for dogs. We’re going to post something about it soon!!
Diane and Cosmo
We got our Dura ball and I took it to agility class with Skye – he loved it! He got it rather slimy while enjoying the squeak squeak squeak, making all the dogs jealous! Thanks so much!
We received our Dura Play ball and Nico absolutely loves it. It has been dubbed the “qweaka qweaka” and it is a big, big, big hit. Thanks so much!
I’m so glad to hear it arrived safely and is a hit. They really are terrific balls … how they bounce, how they sound, how they must feel in the dog’s mouth. Lilly love, love, loves hers and was happy to share.
Ha! That’ll teach me to look at the comments, not just the number. 🙂 My ball obsessed dog will be thrilled.
Aw, man. JUST missed it.
Oh, well. Next time, maybe. 🙂
You made it @Crystal. My comment doesn’t count as of the 10. :o)
My BC LOVES all toys.. I really need to teach him to put them away because if given the chance – he will pull every single toy out of the toy box. We’re working on getting him to pick them all up for me. If he learns it, then maybe he will be granted full access to the toy box. For now its super toy rotation time!
That’s so funny, Aly. We make a game of counting how many toys we find in the living room (or wherever each morning). And, yes … the clean-up trick is a handy one. You can see video of Lilly putting away her toys here:
https://championofmyheart.com/2009/10/22/lillys-new-trick-clean–up/
We’re glad to see you back. I hope that the crises have passed even if the germs aren’t gone.
I couldn’t agree more about what our dogs really value. Our attention and love is all they really want (plus food)!
My indiscriminately toy-addicted Kes loves ALL toys. Her ‘favorite’ is the one you are tossing. The new puppy (coming this weekend) and who still has no name, may be different. At this point all I know is that he’s terrific.
Not sure if those are toy getting qualifications….
Hey – did we make the cut? We’ve never tried one of those particular balls, but I’m guessing my crew would like them.
I hope you are feeling better soon – those coughing fits are no fun at all!
For my young border collie Rip, his favoritest toy in the world is a squeaky tennis ball. I haven’t tried the Hartz ball though. Funny how they have their absolute favorites.
Our guys definitely prefer doing things with us to a toy any day. Of course toys come in handy when we need to spend time putting bread on the table.
my dogs would love this
I feel ya on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday thing. There is none of that going on in the team Fuzzy Bullet household. But.. I did succumb and buy the kids the Nina Ottossen Dog Tornado game which I have been coveting forever. The dogs like it and it still qualifies in your category of things dogs really want because we play together.
I have a crazy playful dog, may I have one?