Sunday 9 November 2008

German dog toys

I bought a new ball for Penny yesterday and it has proved to be a favorite for both human and dog.


She loves it presumably because it tastes, smells and bounces just right. (It must smell good because she was fixated on the bag before the ball even came into view.) I like it because it's colorful, tough and bouncy.

When I noticed the address of a German website on the label I dashed inside to check it out, because I find the European dog toy companies often have a good range of toys for intelligent play, which is one of my interests. Sure enough, when I went to Trixie, I found lots of dog equipment listed, and a selection of learning toys.

I really, really want to buy the 'Dog Activity Gamble Box" but I think the site is for wholesalers, not private buyers. The owners of my local shop recently attended a trade fair in Germany - maybe that is why the Trixie balls have suddenly appeared in the shop - but I haven't yet convinced them they should import the wooden range of learning toys. Aggghhh! It's so frustrating living on the other side of the planet from Europe.

I think the ball we have must be a hedgehog ball, but I'm not sure, as the description says this ball is soft and the one we have is quite hard.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! That looks like a fun ball, I'm going to check out the links you provided. Rusty loves new things like that.

The birds thing is true and I've seen it an action here with mockingbirds. It took me awhile to figure out what the trouble was as they are always fussing about something. I was afraid my cat was too close to their nest for their comfort, but found him inside. I went to see if another neighborhood cat was bothering them (I was going to chase it off) when one of the mockingbirds made a dive bomb into the grass. Well, it was a snake.

I loved the story about Adonis! The backpack thing was such a funny thing!

I hope that the Home 4 the Holidays is going good. What a great idea!

Misadventures of Widowhood said...

It's interesting how different dogs interact with different toys. My Levi loves his stuffies and hard stuff like the Kong toys just sit in his box. I'm glad Penny is happy with her new ball!

Slavenka said...

My dogs love this ball, because to them it is easier to catch.

Lizzy said...

Penny!

That is a pawesome ball you have there, I'm sure you must love it... I should look into getting one for myself, hee hee.

Sparky

parlance said...

Rusty, tell your mom I forgot to say that the balls are quite expensive. We normally use bright-colored bouncy balls that cost between $2 and $3, but these ones were $10. We're going to keep them for throwing around on our own property, as we usually lose one ball about every two trips to the park.

parlance said...

It must be a gentle life with Levi, with his love a soft toys - though some of the adventures he's had so far seem to have been a bit stressful.

parlance said...

Slavanka, I also think these balls are easier to get out of the dog's mouth if she's not quite willing to give it back.

parlance said...

Sparky, tell your mom to have a look at the German site - it's in English, if you click the British flag at the top - I think the link I gave is already clicked for English - she's sure to love some of the unusual toys.
On the other hands, I think from reading your blog that your life is rather full of interest already.

i said...

Happy loves playing with balls like this too. But she likes to chew on the balls though, which isn't such a good idea. Is this one easily chewed?

I think it was a miracle that Penny managed to get hold of the biscuits! LOL! Unless she's really good at jumping and leaping.

parlance said...

Serendipity, It's quite hard, couldn't be chewed too much, I would say. It's about five times more expensive than normal balls - I think that might be because it's made of tough material. I'm not quite sure that it's the hedgehog ball pictured on the site, though.

curator said...

I wonder what the ball smells like to Penny if it smells so good? I always wonder what goes on in doggie heads.

parlance said...

Curator, since I've had another species living with me I've also begun to wonder what it must be like to experience the world with the senses of a dog. I just can't imagine how she knows the neighbor's cat is across the road strolling on the lawn. She couldn't possibly hear the cat - surely? But she couldn't possibly smell him - could she?