Reviews You Can Use: Barkbox

20131021_231346I signed Buddy up for BarkBox about a year ago using a deal I found on Groupon. It just looked too good to pass up and it must have been, because he’s been obsessed ever since.

Each box, which is sent out on the 15th of every month, usually has about five or six items in it and includes toys, treats and accessories. We’ve gotten everything from balls to salmon treats. For the most part, Buddy has loved everything, but he definitely has his favorites including a plastic treat ball and a once-stuff yellow zucchini. The only thing he really didn’t care for was a wool mouse which cause a serious coughing fit. I think wool isn’t his thing, so on the rare occasion when he gets a wool toy, we just 20140220_200544store it in the closet. He always loves the treats that come in the box and we haven’t purchased treats since signing up. Also, he loves when they send him the occasional bully stick, although he probably eats them way too fast.

The one thing I do wish is that they’d come up with more indestructible toys. Buddy may be small, but he is mighty and toys don’t last very long when he’sĀ involved. He always destuffs any stuffed toy, pulls out the squeaker and makes a total mess. He does continue to play with them though after so I can’t 20140318_211327complain too much. Even the toys that are marked as tough get destroyed. With any of
the rubber toys, once he starts breaking the rubber off in pieces, I take it away. Even though it appears like he just chews it off and spits it out to move on the next piece, I can’t risk him swallowing it. That could get expensive quick.

Besides the toy suggestion, I really don’t have any Barkbox complaints. The boxes are great and the customer service is amazing. 20140309_144022Each month they send a survey to see how you liked your box and ask for suggestions on products for future boxes. I suggested Bowser Beer (a non-alcoholic dog beer) on a few surveys and lo and behold it showed up in a future box. You really can’t ask for more than that. I would say there’s an interesting conditioning thing that comes with subscribing to Barkbox. Everytime I get any box in the mail, Buddy automatically thinks it’s for him. He’ll jump around and try to attack it until he finally realizes it’s not his box. Silly dog. I can’t imagine how that works with large dogs and mailmen…

If you’re interested in checking out Barkbox, click here or use any of the Barkbox links contained in this post to save $5 off your first month. Buddy will thank you because he’ll also get a free box added to his subscription. Plus, proceeds from every box go to animals in need which is a really cool additional feature of subscribing.

 

I did not receive compensation for this review. It represents my own (and Buddy’s) experience with Barkbox.