Martha Stewart Rope Bone Toy

At Play:  Test-driving Martha Stewart’s Tug Toy

Martha Stewart Rope Bone Toy ($6.99) is one of many items in the Martha Stewart/Petsmart collaboration. I always am drawn to Martha Stewart’s products–there is just something about the classic look and color palette that gets me, I suppose. Now that Mellan has the luxury of being the resident product tester here at Paws and Kisses, naturally, I had to pick up something when I saw the Martha Stewart display at my local Petsmart! It’s available in both 6″ and 8″ lengths and blue, brown, ivory, or red for colors. Mellan is 60 pounds of labrador goodness, so I opted for the 8″ and picked blue!

Though I don’t typically have high expectations for a lot of dog toys, the rope seemed made well enough. I figured that going for the rope over one of the stuffed toys would also bode better, since Mellan has no problems with his much-loved BOODA Ropes. I was completely and utterly wrong. Mellan is not even much of a destroyer–at least not deliberately–and he just likes to chew and pull at toys. He will shake toys and toss them up in the air as well, but he’s not one of those dogs that methodically looks to destroy and un-stuff his toys either.

Both ends of the bone started to unravel within the first minute, and we really weren’t playing very hard (he was laying, and I was teasing him with it). It frays and pulls apart pretty quick, particularly at the ends. The issue is the way it’s braided, because dogs can easily pull entire strings out of the bone (we had about ten pieces in as many minutes). I even pulled one out, and you really don’t need a lot of strength to do so (could easily see a smaller dog doing the same). Durability definitely lacks, but it does seem to be harder to pull apart the middle section of the rope. I’ve seen toys touted as indestructible get seams ripped faster. Since strings do pull out, this is a toy that requires supervision (as rope toys often do).

Mellan hard at work…

Inevitably, dogs will chew on this toy, even if it is designed for tug. But just tugging frays and pulls this apart, and chewing does it more so. Mellan didn’t seem particularly interested in the toy, either. Maybe he wanted to throw it around a bit, but he only chewed on it when we teased him with it–the “Oh, what do you have there? I want it, too!” kind of play. He would play with the Rope Bone for a minute or two, drop it, and start playing with another toy instead. For us, the rope is a bit short to play a decent game of tug with. I’d prefer more length (maybe 10″). The rope isn’t hard on the hands, though, and it has some spring/give when pulled at both ends.

I do like the price. For something by Martha Stewart, I expected to pay more. I don’t feel the price tag is unreasonable for a toy in general, even if it does not last us nearly as long as we’d like!

Review Snapshot

• Product: 20/30
• Pup Happiness: 6/10
• Durability: 2/5
• Value: 3/5
• OVERALL: D

RECOMMENDATION: If you use this toy exclusively for tug for a small or medium sized dog, I think it might work out better. For a larger dog, the rope is a little on the short end for a truly good game of tug. I don’t recommend this for avid, determined, or powerful chewers, because they will make rather quick work of the ends, if not the middle, too. If left for chewing, the dog should be supervised to avoid swallowing the loose strings that he’ll inevitably pull out.

WHERE TO BUY:   Petsmart

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