We’re big fans of the Thundershirt here (it really helped Mingus out when he was having some troubles after surgery a while back), so we were stoked to find out that the makers of the ‘Shirt have introduced a new toy designed to help entertain and calm your dog, called — what else? — ThunderToy. Huskymutts Mingus and Dottie put the ThunderToy to the test for this month’s installment of Mingus & Dottie Try It. What did we think? Check out our review below!
[Disclosure: Thunderworks sent us some ThunderToys and ThunderTreats to review. All views and opinions are our own.]
The premise of the ThunderToy is quite simple. It’s a hollowed-out treat receptacle made of 100% fun-to-chew rubber, designed to release treats slowly as your dog chews, rolls, and bounces the toy. You can fill it with kibble, treats, peanut butter, or ThunderTreats, which are wheat-, corn-, and soy-free treats made with chamomile and lavender for calming anxiety. (Each ThunderToy comes with a free bag of ThunderTreats to try. Sweet!)
ThunderToy’s durable rubber provides soothing jaw exercise for your dog, and figuring out how to release the treats provides him with a calming, constructive activity, as opposed to de-structive activities like destroying your couch or DVD collection.
Simply fill the ThunderToy with treats, and it’s ready to go.
Mingus and Dottie had a ball playing with the ThunderToy. Its shape causes it to bounce and roll in an entertaining way, and Mingus quickly figured out that picking up and dropping the ThunderToy would cause it to relinquish the treats. Nevertheless, the treat retainers on the ThunderToy kept the treats from coming out too quickly, so the ThunderToy kept him occupied for quite some time. In all, their ThunderToys kept Mingus and Dottie interested and occupied for close to an hour at a time — valuable time if you’ve got a dog who suffers from hyperactivity or anxiety.
Since they’re made from durable rubber, the ThunderToys held up really well to all that chewing, too — they stayed intact and then were easily cleaned up with a quick trip through the dishwasher. (While Mingus was able to scrape some of the color off the ThunderToy with his aggressive chewing, the toy itself remained structurally sound, which greatly impressed me. He’s destroyed many a supposedly “indestructible” toy.)
ThunderToy comes in two sizes, large and small, and you can order (with free shipping!) straight from Thunderworks’ website.
