I read rave reviews about the product. Some highlights of the reviews:
4 Stars! “…The squeaker sounds like the noise when you squeeze an empty
turkey baster or something. Slight squeal of air. Dog goes nuts over it,
though…It's a good size for me to throw, it's usable in the house as it's soft
and light, and I don't mind throwing it for her while I'm watching TV because I
can't hear it. So all in all - this one's a winner.”
5 Stars: “My dog really loves this; I love it because you can not hear
the thing squeak. You only hear a pffft pfft. Noise.”
5 Stars: “I love these toys. My dogs love them and I like how quiet they
are! I think they are durable and last a long time too. If you want your dogs
to be able to play, you can do and not hear a squeaker.”
5 Stars: “My dog loves playing with this toy and I love it that I can't
hear the squeaker. It seems to be pretty durable (my dog is an aggressive
chewer). I would recommend this product.”
These reviews were taken from Amazon.
About 70% of the reviews on Amazon were rave reviews with giving the
product a 4 or 5 stars out of 5 stars.
I wondered the same question many of you are probably wondering too, do
the dogs actual hear anything? Well I
took one of the toys and squeaked it outside of the playgroup without the dogs
actually seeing it. To my surprise the
dogs responded, their ears perked up, side head tilt- WOW! It seemed like they could actual hear the
toy.
I decided to find out the durability and if dogs would actually be
interested in playing with the toys. I
brought home one of the large pink penguins to see how “Hear Doggy” would stand
up to my pooches.
I decided to try it out with my two dogs, Dallas (Shepherd/Husky/Akita
mix) & Natalya (German shepherd mix).
Natalya typically has a habit of nibbling off arms, legs, hats, and
essentially dissecting her toys over time just to get to the squeaker. Dallas
on the other hand is fairly gentle with his toys, unless they have hats or
scarves in which case he very delicately takes them off his toys. However many toys have been in great
condition until the two of them decide to battle over one. Natalya always win the battle, the toy
however doesn’t always win.
After squeaking it just once Natalya was immediately intrigued. Tilting her head, ears perked up, almost
saying, “Come on Mom let’s play throw the toy!
I want the toy!”. (I’m pretty
sure that’s what her barking translated into).
After the next squeak Dallas
was now intrigued, not as excited, however he had just woke up from a nap.
I threw the toy across the living room, and almost immediately regretted
that decision. Both dogs ran haphazardly
across the kitchen through the living room to the toy. Dallas
beat Natalya to getting the Penguin which immediately began the chase
throughout the house. Dallas ran down stairs shaking the Penguin in
the air. He flew down the stairs
(missing two steps) as he wiped out at the bottom of the stairs. He dropped his Penguin for a moment but
quickly grabbed it before Natalya could pick up the Penguin. Dallas
ran to his couch, jumped on it and starting chewing on his Penguin.
Natalya
determined that she was not content playing with another toy and decided she
wanted the Penguin toy. After waiting
about 10 minutes, till Dallas
had let his guard down Natalya carefully went down the stairs to the rec
room. Dallas though was not ready to give up his
Penguin, and put up a fair fight. I for
sure though the tug-o-war battle between Dallas and Natalya would end with the
Penguin in flight along with his stuffing and squeaker in the air. But shockingly to my delight it didn’t! Natalya swiftly managed to extract the
Penguin from Dallas ’
grip and retreat to the upstairs kitchen to lay on her rug with Penguin.
The Penguin survived both Dallas and Natalya unscratched. So far, so good.
In conclusion the Penguin survived. No holes.
No rips. No tears. Just covered in dog slobber. My rating of the “Hear Doggy” toy is 4
stars. 4 stars because the item appears
to work, the dogs do appear to hear the product. I wouldn’t give it 5 stars because it is a
plush toy, so I can foresee it being destroyed or dissected in the future (not
immediately). Keep an eye out for “Hear
Doggy” products, which will be on our shelves shortly.