BarkBox March 2015 Review

BarkBox is one of the original dog subscription boxes. They typically send 5 items and I find lately its usually 2 toys, 2 large treats and a small treat. But past months we have received a few gadgets as well. You can select your dog size when you subscribe, although I find the largest category being 50 pounds and up sometimes sends things too small for my dogs, but, Barney is 120 pounds and Betty is around 80 pounds right now so they are not the typical sized dogs. I also wish they had an option for multiple dogs. They send about 1 "one time use" treat a month and its a pain to have to try and split it into 2 treats so no one is left out.

The Cost: $29.00/Monthly or $24.00/month on a 3 month plan $21.00/month on a 6 month plan or $19.00/month on a yearly plan plus $5.00 Shipping to Canada

We highly recommend getting a multiple month plan with the dollar exchange and shipping costs the value is not so much there if you are paying $34.00 US.

Barkbox comes in a simple brown box and I have yet to figure out their shipping logic as it seems to arrive at a different time of the month every month.

First look

Usually the boxes have some sort of clever theme to them but this month I'm not getting anything off the bat. Here is what is inside.

Every month comes with an info card, all items can be re-ordered from the Bark Shop.

Hyper Pet Dura-Squeaks $16.00

This super durable, non-toxic toy brings fetch everywhere. Pawfect for gnawing indoors, throwing at the park, and floating in the river.

Floating in the River? Haha that will not be happening as the rivers here are CRAZY and would likely wash away my dogs and the toy. But this is likely our favorite item in the box! It is extremely well made, the dogs love it and the squeaker noise has not drove me crazy yet. Thankfully, usually the squeakers are the first to go, but this one is still alive for now. This is also a great sized toy for my jumbo pups!

 Nature's Bits Salmon Recipe 6oz (170g) $8.00

Simply scrumptious salmon taste! Made with fish, fruit, and vegetable ingrediants sourced 100% in the USA.

These are a great sized soft treat, they do smell "fishy" which means the dogs gobbled them up. To be fair Betty will eat anything and I mean ANYTHING. Barney on the other hand can be a tad fussy. I really like that these treats are wheat free as we try to keep the furkids on a gluten free diet.

 

 Pet Qwerks Popcorn Plush Toy $10.00

Why pass the popcorn when you can toss, squeak, and chomp this adorable plush?

This is the one item I was definitely not impressed with. It is a plush toy and has a squeaker and crinkle paper inside. Just as I assumed would happen after 10 minutes of play it was destroyed. My dogs destroy most "plush" toys so I was not surprised it didn't last, I was however quite disturbed that all of the red lines on it leaked ink everywhere. I'm aware my dogs may drool more than other dogs but never should the coloring from a toy run right off the toy! Needless to say this ended up in the garbage.

Etta Says! Bison Chew 7 Inch Treat $3.00

This protein-packed, American-made bison chew is easily digestible! Absolutely no artificial fillers, coloring, or preservatives.

Etta Says! is a great brand and everything but I have received these chew sticks countless times from dog boxes. I believe I got one last month too. I usually break them in half and the dogs have them devoured in about 2 minutes. This month I just put in in the treat cupboard and will wait for another one to magically appear in a box so I can give them each a whole one at the same time. This is not something we would purchase on our own. For the $6.00 it costs to buy one for each dog, it just is not worth it for the 2 minutes of chewing they get out of it. There are much better chew treats and bones in this price range.

Yeti Corp Golden Nugget Treats 3oz $8.00

Made from Nepali yak and cows milk, salt, and lime juice. Puff them in the microwave and serve popcorn (after cooling), or boil for 10-15 minutes in water then chop into bits as a food topper.

Okay, these are just cool! They are hard little cubes and puff up to about 3 times their size in the microwave. I failed miserably making the first one and burnt it but the second attempt turned out great! They are still quite crunchy once cooked and both dogs really seemed to enjoy them.

Final Verdict: Overall, this isn't our favorite BarkBox but 3 of the products were a hit! I like BarkBox because it send a lot of product that are only available in the USA and its kind of neat to check out items we cannot get in Canada! The value wasn't bad this month at $45.00 BUT if I don't count the popcorn toy that only lived for about 5 minutes total we only got a $35.00 value for our family. I know that is not really fair to do but even if the popcorn toy didn't get ripped open I still would have had to throw it out because of the red ink. Here is a picture of Betty right before she destroyed the popcorn plush!