Tag Archives: Puller

Our favourite things

Our Favourite Things

KONG for your pup

The KONG Classic

These are a few of our favourite things – unassuming yet amazingly useful enrichment toys

Thanks to the pandemic, many people new to pet ownership are finding their feet with their new paws and wading through the thousands of available aids, toys, and enrichment games on the market.

We see a lot of different toys for pets and there are plenty of choices, but what if you want a “toy” that has more than one purpose? One that can become a hit with your pet and your go-to item for entertainment, comfort or learning. Have a quick browse through our well-tested, favourite things.

KONG

KONG sizes

KONG – available in a range of sizes and varieties

Years ago, when we bought our pups their first KONGs, neither we nor the youngsters were impressed. We tried throwing them, but there wasn’t a lot of interest in them and they may have chewed on them for a while, but they just weren’t very stimulating. If only we had known!

KONGs solve these problems

What use is a KONG?

Fast forward a few years and we learned the secret of the KONG – the filling! Fill them with all sorts of goodies and the dogs were drooling the moment they saw them. That is the value of a KONG. Freeze them in the hot weather for a nice refreshing treat and prolong the entertainment.

KONG Stuffing

Learn to stuff ’em

Cats too, can get to enjoy this far from boring gift that keeps on giving.

Kitty KONG for cats

The Kitty KONG

Puller

Puller pup

The Puller Dog Exercise Toy

Another product that doesn’t initially excite you when you first set eyes on it. The Puller has become the number one favourite toy in our household. They all love it, even Jack, who doesn’t play with toys.

Puller range

The Puller comes in a wide range of sizes to suit all breeds

It will fly like a frisbee, roll along the ground, float in water and not surprisingly, you can use it as a puller or tuggy. If you have more than one dog, they can play tug together. Our dogs adore it, especially our Daisy, who would swim to it in the pool and even chase it in her wheelchair.

But that’s not all it does, it is also a dog fitness aid, and with it, you get instructions on just how to use it to get your dog fit. But, if fun is all you’re after, you can’t beat it!

Puller train

Train your dog to fitness with the Puller

Tug n Toss Jolly Ball

Tug n Toss Jolly Ball Floats

The Tug n Toss Jolly Ball

The Tug n Toss Jolly Ball is actually lovely to look at, but it is far more than just an ornament. This toy floats beautifully in water and, with the handle, is perfect for a dog to grab. Although our big boy Blitz never bothered with the handle, he enjoyed chomping into the body with his powerful jaws. And that’s the beauty of a Tug n Toss Jolly Ball, they may puncture, but they don’t deflate.

Jolly Ball Range

Available in a range of sizes and even scented varieties

Great for tossing, retrieving and for mouthing. They are also brilliant enrichment toys for horses and come in scented varieties to entice the equine nose!

Jolly Horse

An enrichment toy for your horse or pony

HOL-EE Roller

Hol-EE Roller

The HOL-EE Roller

This one took us by surprise. We have stocked the HOL-EE Roller for a while, but had no idea that there was a whole movement out there – #hackyourholee.

Hack your HOL-EE

#hackyourholee

Such a simple, unassuming “toy”, and yet it has a cult following. Inventive owners have come up with all sorts of wonderful ideas to turn this into probably one of the best, most cost-effective enrichment toys around at the moment.

HOL-EE Sizes

The HOL-EE Roller comes in a range of sizes

Use the HOL-EE Roller for a simple game of fetch if you wish, but you can go so much further. Attach a handle to it for an instant tuggy. Fill it with treats, or don’t just fill it with treats! Cut up some felt strips, roll the treats inside and then push them through the holes of the HOL-EE for longer-lasting fun and a handy brain game. Alternatively, put a ball or squeaker inside for some exciting entertainment. And horses can enjoy it too!

Hol-EE Roller horse

Fill the HOL-EE Roller with hay or treats to make snack time more fun

Spawting Dogs

Disc Dog

Most people have heard of dog agility, and probably a lot of people have had a go at it, but what if you haven’t got the space for all that equipment? How about trying some alternative dog sports that get you outside with your dog(s) and that you can do together. Or if you are both competitive types, take part with other sporty dog lovers.

What is CaniCross?

Cannicross

CaniCross

CaniCross is the sport of cross country running with dogs. The dog is attached to the runner’s waist with a bungee lead. It is powered, and whenever the runner’s feet are off the ground, the dog pulls the runner forward. The dog and the human form a team with the human as the driver, directing the dog from behind with voice commands. CaniCross is not only a great way to get human and canine fit but also works the dog’s mind as well as its body.

What skills does your dog need?

To successfully participate in CaniCross, your dog needs basic obedience skills. Start by teaching good lead manners during your walks. Once you and your dog are walking nicely together, start picking up the pace from a jog to a run. In addition, it’s helpful to teach your dog movement cues such as “speed up” or “slow down.”

What types of dogs can participate?

As long as your dog is fit, healthy, of the right age and able to run, you can both take part in CaniCross. Always consult your vet if unsure.

Equipment needed

The equipment needed for the dog is a comfortable fitting harness, which is suitable for running. A bungee line/lead and a waist/hip belt for the runner.

For more information:

trailrunners | CaniCross & CaniSports community

What is Treibball?

Treibball

Treibball

Treibball can be best described as urban herding. It is a competitive dog sport that requires teamwork between dogs and their handlers. Together, they must drive large exercise balls into the goal in a set amount of time. Handlers can only use whistles, hand signals, and verbal commands to provide direction to their dogs and play their part in the game.

What skills does your dog need?

The distance skills and verbal cues are similar to those used in agility, but with Treibball, there aren’t the same physical demands on the handler, and so people of any age and athletic ability can play. Basic skills needed are sit and down, touch an object with the nose, turn left and right and work reliably off lead.

What types of dogs can participate?

Most popular with herding breeds, but any dog can take part whatever breed or size.

Equipment needed

You will need fitness balls of varying sizes and colours, a kid-sized soccer goal, long line if your dog is unreliable off lead.

For more information:

Here’s a great video to get you started:

What is Disc Dog?

Disc Dog

Disc Dog

Disc dog takes a casual game of fetch with your dog to a different level. Dogs take part in the sport worldwide, and there are local clubs that organise meet-ups, training sessions and small competitions. In disc dog competitions, dogs and their human flying disc throwers compete in events such as distance catching and somewhat choreographed freestyle catching.

What skills does your dog need?

It will help if your dog already likes to play fetch, but it’s not a requirement. The most important thing is a good bond between human and dog. The sport celebrates this bond by allowing them to work together.

What types of dogs can participate?

Dogs of all shapes and sizes. Check with a vet first if your dog has any fitness or lameness issues.

Equipment needed

Flying discs.

For more information:

UK Disc Dogs Association

Other canine sporting activities

If none of these suit you or your canine, there are lots of other doggy sporting activities that may take your fancy and an excellent look book to get you both in the right frame of mind.

Pathway to Positivity

Tracking/nosework

Scentwork UK

Try Tracking Tracking Lines

Flyball

British Flyball Association

Heelwork to music

Heelwork to Music in the UK

Dog Puller

There isn’t currently a UK Dog Puller Federation, so you could start your own!

Dog Puller Fitness Tool

Dog Puller Exercise Toy

Summertime Hazards for your Pets

Daisy dog in the long grass

It’s a jungle out there!

With the arrival of the hot weather accompanied by plenty of wet weather, the grass has shot up. Sadly, because of the rain, we haven’t yet been able to cut the hay, resulting in us having fields of grass up to our waists.

This makes it very difficult for Daisy in her wheelchair to navigate her twice-daily walk. We noticed that she wasn’t showing her typical enthusiasm and decided something had to be done, so we cut her a path.

Daisy in her wheelchair

We think Daisy is pleased with her new wheelchair path

The other dogs are not bothered by it and love leaping through the fields like a school of dolphins although it does put a stop to all their chase games with the Puller. They’d never find them in that grass, and we would end up chopping them into pieces with the mower and then baling them!

However, the warm weather and long grass mean we must be alert for fleas and ticks. Both Jack and Toby had fallen victim to ticks, which we discovered before administering flea and tick protection.

Another attraction is that sometimes they come across bunnies hiding out and that sets them off whooping with excitement as the thrill of the chase sets in.

Rabbit in the long grass

Where are those pesky rabbits?

They haven’t yet managed to catch one of those sneaky rabbits, though!

All For Paws Garden Water Fountain

Toby is a great fan of the All For Paws Garden Water Fountain.

It is essential to keep your pets well hydrated both at home and when you’re out and about. Make sure they have plenty of fresh water available at all times and never leave them unattended in a car, it can take literally minutes for them to succumb to heatstroke, which can be fatal.

Trixie Walker Active Protective Dog Boots

Ensure their paws are protected on hot ground.

Walking your dog when the ground is too hot can cause damage to their paws. Try walking them in the coolness of the early morning or evening. If you’re unsure, press your hand to the pavement for 5 seconds. If it’s too hot for your hand, it’s too hot for your dog’s paws.

Make sure you’ve got all the bases covered with the summer survival guide for pets from the Bluecross, which gives practical information to help you keep your animals safe and happy whilst still enjoying our lovely British summer.

And, of course, there is also a handy guide for cool cats in hot weather!
The Puller Dog Fitness Tool

The Puller Dog Fitness Tool

 

Puller Canine Fitness Tool

The Puller. Best toy ever for dogs who love to chase and tug!

We have to rank the Puller Dog Toy as our favourite dog toy of all time. It epitomises our philosophy of Training, Exercise, Play. Every one of our dogs loves it.

It looks simple and it really is, but the fun they get from it is truly amazing.

But the Puller is not just a toy in the conventional sense, it is an innovative fitness tool for dogs developed by a professional cynologist (one who studies dogs). But our dogs are not interested in the science, all they understand is that it’s fun to chase, and also great fun to tug.

The Puller makes a great tuggy toy

Go on then, pull!

So what is the Puller Dog Fitness Tool? It’s a set of two purple rings and they come in five sizes to suit just about every dog. Although the Maxi’s come as singles. The idea behind them being that they enable you and your dog to engage in active daily training with a positive motivation and also the ability to better understand and develop your dog in a psychological way. Really? Not sure about the last bit but they certainly give your dog a thorough workout.

The Puller comes in packs of two

Daisy always likes to carry a spare…

The unique concept of Puller Training is based on working with two circles and comprises of three simple exercises – running, jumping and pulling, which can be combined, modified and customised to achieve the best results for your dog.

The Puller, great for all types of dogs

Even in her wheelchair, Daisy still enjoys her Puller

It is also, apparently, a new Dog Sport, although it doesn’t yet appear to have reached the UK, with the Puller World Championships being held in Hungary this year. It comes in two disciplines – Puller Running and Puller Jumping. Races take place on a rated racing surface, each discipline lasts 90 seconds and has relatively simple rules. Contestants earn points for correct execution of the exercises. Both disciplines are evaluated separately.

Sport Dog Puller is primarily fun for dogs and owners. It is about physical condition, coordination and mental readiness of the dog, team coordination between dog and handler, but mainly it’s about the joy of working together!

The Puller also floats and is great in water

The Puller is equally at home in the water as it is on dry land.

Of course, it floats and is an ideal retrieval toy in the water, especially to motivate our girl, Daisy to do a few extra laps.

Thanks to the convenient range of sizes we were able to get our dogs started as pups with the Mini Puller. And Toby was smitten from his first encounter. He is Puller mad!

Well, we’re not sure about all the science behind it, or the Dog Sport angle but one thing we do know for sure, is that dogs love ’em. We can testify to that. If a simple throw and tug toy is what you’re looking for you can’t go wrong with the Puller.

And lastly, our girl Tilly has her own unique take on the Puller! How does your dog hold theirs?

The Puller a unique toy for your unique dog

Tilly has a very unconventional way of carrying her Puller!

The Great British Dog Walk

The daily dog walk is sadly in decline

As dog owners, one of our main responsibilities is the daily dog walk. Let’s face it, when the weather is rough, or we fancy another hour in bed, or there’s something good on the telly, we often search for an excuse NOT to walk the dog. In fact, those are some of the top reasons we use as well as a whole host of others. Now Forthglade have launched a campaign to reinstate The Great British Dog Walk and help you re-discover the joy of walking. Not only is it good for our pets, it’s good for us too, and a good walk can affect our health, wellbeing and happiness.

What with the obesity crisis, which affects not only humans, but our pets as well a daily walk could be just what we all need to get us back on track.

But before we all rush out and get started, another factor we may want to consider, especially in the colder weather is the ‘warm-up’, which can be important if your daily walk involves chasing a ball, flying disc, or in our case, the Puller Exercise Toy for Dogs. It had never occurred to us before. Our dogs can be seen hurtling out of the front door, across the yard and into the field in hot pursuit of their favourite purple toy! However, recently we came across an article on Warm-up Exercises for your Dog. Humans are aware that they need to warm up their muscles before exercise but for some reason, we hadn’t thought about it for our dogs.

It doesn’t have to be a long, complicated process, just a few minutes of some basic moves will make all the difference and could prevent injury. It also offers a fabulous opportunity to bond with a bit of training. Do some circles to the left and right, have your dog weave through your legs, teach them a play bow.

Similarly, towards the end of your exercise, make sure that you calm things down and give your dog time to cool off before he returns to the car or indoors.

So now is the perfect time to think a little differently about that daily chore, turn it into a fun experience that is a pleasure for both you and your dog. There are some great motivators on the Forthglade site and also experts on hand to help you along the way.

Take up the six-week dog walk challenge and fall in love with that daily walk all over again, but more importantly, make a dog happy today and every day!

 

Daisy and Archie with the Puller

Daisy and Archie play with the Puller exercise toy

Here we have Daisy and Archie playing with the Puller Exercise Toy for Dogs.

The Puller has been designed with exercise and stimulation in mind, and just 3 simple exercises – running, jumping, and pulling – over 20 minutes will provide a workout for all of your dog’s muscle groups, and is the equivalent of 5km of intensive running. Perfect if you like to keep your dogs in tip top condition.

This video shows the Standard size, which should be suitable for most dogs, but Mini and Maxi sizes are also available.

Today though, we are taking advantage of another feature of the Puller – it is great fun to use!

Daisy and Archie certainly love them!