The July Pet Gift Box

Oops, we got another Pet Gift Box. I was planning to cancel our subscription after the first one, but the site only lets you do that during a one-week period at the end of the month. I missed that window of opportunity, and realized it last week when I got a "your box has shipped" email. While this month's offering has only one food item that Brisbane can't enjoy, and nothing outright dangerous, the toys fail to impress me.

This month's theme is "barbecue", it's also "nostalgia" for me, but not in a good way. We have some dog treats made by Nathan's Famous. You know, the hot dogs? These are made in the USA from beef and corn syrup solids. They really remind me of the dog treats we used to buy at the grocery store for my cocker spaniel. You won't find them on the Nathan's website, the brand identity was just licensed by PetBrandz.com.

The other bag of treats is also made in the USA. The Grill-icious treats are made by Loving Pets Products and contain nothing but chicken and sweet potatoes. Definitely treats I would use if Brisbane could have chicken.

The weirdest thing in the box are the three packets of "petchup". These are condiments for dog food, with ridiculous names. Petchup, Muttstard, and Bark-B-Q. Surprisingly, they actually appear to be quality food additives and something I won't mind dribbling onto dog dinners. They are made out of broth and contain omega fatty acids, glucosamine, and prebiotics. I have no idea whether the actual products resemble the condiments they are named for. It Muttstard really yellow?

The best toy in here is the plush cheeseburger by Jakks Pets. The brand name is PhotoReel, I guess it's supposed to be made out of pictures of a bun, meat, cheese, etc. It's squeaky...and crinkly. My dogs hate crinkly toys. It's also made in China.

The other two toys...quite frankly they remind me of the cheap toys my mother used to buy at the dollar store for my childhood dog. There is a couple of plastic sausages on a rope, made by Pet King. They sell cheap pet toys from China.

The last item is a small squeaky rubber steak. It's small enough that I wouldn't be comfortable letting Brisbane play with it. I am absolutely certain my cocker spaniel had a few of these 20+ years ago. My friend recognized it from a Simpsons episode from 1989. It is made by Amazing Pet Products in...you guessed it, China. Our first Pet Gift Box was pretty awesome. This one fails to impress me in any way, the quality of the products is severely lacking. The cheap Chinese toys are going straight into the trash.