Product Review: Purple Senior Kong

The Senior Kong comes in the same shape as the classic red Kong, but in a softer rubber that is easier on the mouth. Purple Kongs for senior dogs come in three sizes for small, medium, and large dogs.

Photo by Erin Koski

Brisbane has been slowing down and showing his age a bit in the last few months, but that's not actually why I got him a purple Kong. The real reason is that I love the color and really wanted to add some purple to our Kong collection in the freezer.

The original senior Kong rubber was a swirled white and purple that I always thought looked a bit dirty. The puppy Kong toys also started out with this swirly rubber, first it was white and teal, then it was changed to white swirled with either blue or pink. I never really found these toys visually appealing, to me they always looked sort of dirty.

Obviously somebody at Kong had the right idea, because the puppy Kongs are now solid pastel blues and pinks, and the senior Kong is a nice vibrant solid purple. The only ones I have ever seen in my local stores were the yucky-looking swirly ones, and as soon as I saw the bright purple Kong on the company website I wanted it. This absolutely makes me a crazy dog lady, as well as a dog nerd of the highest order. But look how purple! My Kong collection is getting a bit silly though, I've almost managed to collect one of every color. I'm planning to get Brisbane an orange Aqua Kong next.

Pros: Purple! Look how pretty! Softer rubber is easier for older dogs to chomp and squish, making chewing more fun for geriatric dogs. As always, Kongs are stuffable, freezable, and bounce all crazy.

Cons: Less durable than classic red Kongs, and there's no real reason to switch to these when my dogs still thoroughly enjoy those. Old but powerful recreational chewers may well demolish a senior Kong, so these softer toys should be introduced with care.

Bottom Line: Kong couldn't make a more me Kong unless they made it out of dark pink/fuchsia rubber like the color of Brisbane's leash. I wish I had more to say, but I really just like the purple Kong for the color.