Hi Everyone,
Petsafe was very generous to Roxy (& Belle!), so this post is going to be full of great products, their reviews, and super cute pictures of the girls’ (see end of review for disclosure)
I’m going to start with the Busy Buddy Bristle Bone
(ARP 7$ – 20$ depending on size)
I often look on DogProductPicker.com to find the best toys for Roxy and so my standards are very high for this toy. My first impression from this toy was that it was heavy! Petsafe appropriately sent Roxy a large, and these toys are no joke. Roxy likes to throw it.. I’ve learned to keep my toes away, haha!
The durable nylon bristles and rubber nubs on the Busy Buddy Bristle Bone provide dogs with a stimulating chewing surface. Treat ring refills reward good chewing behavior to encourage longer playtime.
Roxy is a very attached (shall I say needy..) dog. She wants to know what you’re doing, how you’re doing it, and has trouble playing by herself because she’s so interested in human things. As soon as I gave her this toy, she ran and I didn’t see her in my shadow for a few hours. It actually made me tear up a bit, she gained some independence!
The Busy Buddy Bristle Bone comes already assembled, just take it out of the package (ha, have fun with that.. lol!) and give to your dog. But I took it apart just to show y’all how easy it is to load in new Gnawhide treat rings.
You can take it apart super easily by unscrewing one of the sides. This will also make it easy for washing the parts if they ever get icky from chewing. Ps, you can throw it in the top wrack of your dishwasher for easy cleaning! Just make sure there are no treat rings that go in.
Key Features
- For dogs over 6 months
- Durable nylon and rubber construction
- Includes 4 Busy Buddy® natural rawhide treat ring refills
- Additional rawhide and cornstarch treat ring refills available separately
- Extra Small size for dogs under 10 pounds
- Small size for dogs 10 – 25 pounds
- Medium size for dogs 25 – 50 pounds
- Large size for dogs 50 – 90 pounds
Features
- Dishwasher safe, top rack only
As you all may have noticed from our previous dog toy reviews, Roxy is a tough chewer, which I find great for reviewing because we get to see in plain sight how toys can stand up to dogs like her. I’m not going to lie, for the first few hours she destroyed one of the sides of the bone (white part). I couldn’t figure out why she was chewing on that, when there was two treats right beside. I grabbed the toy, and smelled it. The entire toy smelled like rubber, masking the smell of the Gnawhide treat rings. Thankfully, they send you 2 extra refills for the treat rings with the Busy Buddy Bristle Bone, so I grabbed one of those and gave it to her, just like that. It made quite the gooey mess (their main ingredient is corn starch). I returned her toy to her once she was done eating the treat ring, and she immediately found the treat rings on the toy and no longer chews the white part. So, just a heads up! If you notice your dog isn’t chewing the middle where the treat rings are, a good idea is to give them a treat ring without the toy, so they can figure out its taste and smell.
Overall, this is a great toy! It keeps dogs occupied for hours, and cleans their teeth in the process!
Next, the Busy Buddy Squirrel Dude treat dispensing toy.
(ARP 6$ – 15$ depending on size)
The Busy Buddy Squirrel Dude features high durability and a funky bounce to keep dogs playing longer. The patented Treat Meter® holds a variety of treat options, including dry kibble, treats, cheese, and peanut butter.
This toy is super neat, it has little prongs on its underside made of rubber, and depending the size of the treat you plan to fill it with, you can trim those, to make it easier for the treats to fall out.
When filling this, I used Trumps Choice Rewards, as none are provided and from what I can see, you can’t buy treats specific to the squirrel dude. Which can be a good thing, fill it with whatever your dog likes! I think Cesar little treats would fit perfectly, too.
Key Features
- Patented Treat Meter® randomly dispenses treats
- Extra Small size for dogs under 10 pounds
- Small size for dogs 8 – 20 pounds
- Medium size for dogs 20 – 50 pounds
- Large size for dogs over 50 pounds
Features
- Dishwasher safe, top rack only
Roxy loves this toy, when you throw it, it bounces, but because of the neat shape it bounces in many directions, making it more fun for the pooch!
(ARP 7$ – 25$ depending on size)
The Busy Buddy Bouncy Bone is three toys in one: nylon bone, rubber ball, and refillable treat-holding toy. Treat ring refills reward good chewing behavior to encourage longer playtime.
Roxy loves this toy, but as she did with the Bristle Bone she chewed up the sides of the toy, not realizing the Gnawhide treat rings because it smelled of rubber and masked the treats smell.
It’s a neat toy, our only ‘issue’ with it is that it’s SOO heavy. Of course, Petsafe sent Roxy the appropriate size toy for her size, which is the Large. Because it’s a big toy, the nylon bone ends are large (and heavy) which isn’t a huge deal, except for when she throws the toy expecting the ball to bounce, but it makes a loud thump as the nylon ends hit the wooden floor. This is definitely a toy made for carpet (or outside). It’s a great toy although its loudness.
Key Features
- For dogs over 6 months
- Durable nylon and rubber construction
- Includes 6 Busy Buddy® natural rawhide treat ring refills
- Additional rawhide and cornstarch treat ring refills available separately
Features
- Dishwasher safe, top rack only
Also, as with the Bristle Bone, you can unscrew the sides to clean, and replace used/eaten Gnawhide Treat Rings.
Gnawhide Treat Rings Bacon Flavored Cornstarch Refills
(ARP 10$ for 16 refills)
Busy Buddy treat rings are designed as refills for select Busy Buddy dog toys. The combination of toys plus treats motivates dogs to play longer, redirecting potentially destructive behavior into positive playtime. To give your dog more variety, try other Busy Buddy treat rings, available in a variety of flavor options.
I got a pack of 16 Gnawhide treat rings as refills for the above toys Roxy was sent. She really loves them, and they last a few days of constant play/eating.
- Busy Buddy treat rings are designed for use with select Busy Buddy dog toys
- Irresistible bacon flavored cornstarch treats
- Fits Busy Buddy toys that hold Size C treat ring refills
- Helps redirect potentially destructive chewing behavior into positive playtime
- 16 treat rings per pack
A must-buy when you buy Petsafe toys that use these. Even though Petsafe sends you extras with the toys, it’s good to have even more on hand!
Scoopfree Ultra, self cleaning litter box
(ARP 199$)
ScoopFree® is the self-cleaning litter box you can leave alone for weeks at a time. Simply plug in the box and watch it work. The automatic rake system sweeps waste into the covered compartment 5, 10, or 20 minutes after your cat uses the litter box. The timer will reset if the safety sensors detect that your cat has re-entered the box. The health counter lets you track how many times your cat has used the litter box to quickly identify possible health problems. The special crystal litter, packed in a convenient disposable litter tray, is 5 times more effective at reducing odor than clay or clumping litters. The privacy hood helps keep the litter in the box. Your cat will always have a clean, fresh-smelling litter box, and you’ll enjoy a home that’s effortlessly odor-free.
If you have cats, I can almost guarantee cleaning the regular old cat litter is your worst hated chore. I would make messes, with litter everywhere and it was just a pain. Not to mention Roxy would ‘help’ me clean it whenever she got a minute alone with it. The ScoopFree Ultra is worth its weight in gold, because depending on how many cats you have, you could only have to change the litter tray once every 4 weeks! How amazing would that be.
Some cats take some time adjusting to this new litter box, which is totally normal. ScoopFree suggests leaving their old litter ‘dirty’ for a few days, and because cats are ‘wired’ to not go to the washroom in a dirty litterbox, they’ll switch if it really bothers them. Although with Belle, as soon as the ScoopFree litter box was set up she went in and used it. She’s not the most adventurous cat either, so you may not even have to slowly transition from your cats old litter box to the ScoopFree Ultra.
Putting together the ScoopFree Ultra was a tad confusing, i’ll be honest. But the instruction manual has pictures to go along with the step-by-step instructions. Once it’s set up though, it’s a god-send!
A neat feature that the ScoopFree Ultra has, is a health meter. It tracks how many times the ScoopFree has to rake (the sensors sense use). You can keep track of how often your cat(s) use the litter, which can help you easily spot some medical issues easily. You can reset the meter daily, weekly, however you want with the simple press of a button.
The ScoopFree Ultra comes with a great cover, to keep what needs to be in, in, and what needs to be out (Ahem, Roxy..), out.
Key Features
- Self-cleaning automatic rake cleans entire box 5, 10, or 20 minutes after cat uses it
- Rakes waste into closed waste compartment for superior odor control
- Safety sensors automatically reset rake timer if cat re-enters box
- Disposable litter trays with leak-proof lining for easy cleanup
- Crystal litter absorbs urine for 5x better odor control than other litter
- Uses 5-10x less litter than clay and clumping litter
- Privacy hood gives your cat a secluded bathroom and reduces litter tracking
- Health counter tracks how many times your cat uses the box
- Lab tested for 100,000+ cycles without failure or jamming
Features
- For cats of any size
- For indoor use only
System Includes
- Litter box
- UL-rated 120V 60Hz adaptor with 10-foot power cord
- Litter tray filled with Premium Blue Crystals
- Privacy hood
All in all, I love this product! I would buy it if it wasn’t already sent to me. We actually recently adopted a second cat, so this is even more useful to me now! Less litterboxes to change. (and Jade, our new cat, went straight to the ScoopFree and used it right away, also, never seeing one before us)
(ARP 53$ for 3 refill trays)
The ScoopFree disposable litter tray is the reason you can leave ScoopFree self-cleaning litter boxes alone for weeks at a time. With disposable trays, you don’t have to see, touch, or smell messy waste. Simply replace the disposable tray every few weeks, and your ScoopFree litter box is just like new. Each tray is pre-filled with Premium Blue Crystals litter for unbeatable odor control that’s 5 times more effective than regular clay and clumping litters. Low-tracking and odor-reducing crystal litter keeps your home litter-free and smelling great.
These litter box refills for the ScoopFree Ultra are great! They really do what they say ; I’ve had our ScoopFree going for the last week and you can’t even detect that there’s a kitty litter in the room when you walk in. I was actually surprised! It seemed almost too good to be true, but nope! It’s for real! Belle is 8 months old, so she’s still using the litter quite often, and still – no smell!
We reached out to Petsafe and asked if Roxy does find her way under the lid, if the blue crystals are toxic. I’m not sure about y’all, but that would make it or break it for me. A lot of dogs like to fish in the kitty litter for ‘presents’ and if the litter can seriously harm the dog, it would be a bad situation. This is the reply we got from Petsafe
“Thanks for reaching out. The crystals are made up of silica, which according to the Carolinas Poison Centre is non-toxic. “
You have zero contact with kitty-waste. Once the ‘poop trap’ (for lack of better words) is full, you take the the litter tray out, and there is a lid under it, so just take that off, pop it on top and tape it closed, then it’s good to go in the garbage!
You hear everywhere, Pregnant women should not come in direct contact with cat waste, because of potential bacteria that is harmful. With the ScoopFree, you have absolutely no direct contact with the waste, so essentially, it’s safe! But if you’re still uncomfortable, it can be changed once a month for 1 cat – which is easier on whoever you have to help you.
For 1 cat, a litter tray can last 20-30 days.
For 2 cats, a litter tray can last 10-15 days.
For 3+ cats, a litter tray can last 7-10 days.
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Disclosure ; The product(s) featured in this review were provided free of cost to me by the manufacturer or representing PR agency for the sole purpose of product testing. Opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation.
