Review: BarkBox - Fun Stuff for the Dog in Your Life

At this moment I have "Dogs just wanna have fun. Oh they wanna have fu-un" going through my head in the tune of Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" from 1983. Yes, it's my '80s reference for the day, I can't help it. Now, some dogs like to cuddle with their families, some have the attention span of Dug from "Up" -- "Squirrel!" Some are just plain Fruitloops. Regardless of their personality, they end up being members of our families and as we know, some have more dysfunctional families than others. Anyway...a co-worker of mine loves to talk about his dog and what kind of mischief he (the dog) gets into. One day he (the co-worker) comes in and was talking about how his dog loves getting his monthly BarkBox package. So of course I had to ask, "What the heck is a BarkBox?" in my most incredulous tone. He goes on to explain it's a monthly subscription of goodies sent to your dog. These goodies are toys and treats all neatly packaged and ready for your pooch's enjoyment. Me, always looking for neat things to try and write about said, "Send me the link!"

I clicked on the link and it took me to the BarkBox site. They walk you through the signup process with fun cartoons / graphics. You get to pic your dog's size, the monthly plan from one month to 12, the more months the cheaper is it per month, and because my friend sent his referral link not only did he get a free month, so did I. How awesome is that? The website is straight-forward and easy to navigate and find what you need. They have neat little graphics, fun dog pics and "dog language" like "Spread the ruv..." throughout the site. It made signing up fun and easy! I signed up for six months, for a small dog at $24 / mos.

Like the litter in the background?

My son and I eagerly waited for the first box to arrive. He was just as excited as I was to see what Gizmo would do with it. The day came and it was waiting on the porch when we got home. We brought it in and let Gizmo sniff the box. We popped it open and everything was neatly packaged. There were five items in the box, two toys and three treats. The toys appeared to be well made and the treats were healthy. Gizmo sniffed the contents and you could tell he wanted to the toys, but then again what dog doesn't? Tags came off, dog got toys...and they actually lasted longer than most of the store bought toys we've had and disposed of within minutes. Gizmo is one of the best destroyers of toys I've seen in a long time. He can literally shred, pull apart, get the squeaker out, remove an arm or ear within minutes of putting his mouth on it. He can remove the inside stuffing of a toy quicker than The Flash can get a cup of joe at Jitters. Regardless, he loved his

Inside Box before Gizmo!

first BarkBox, he loved the toys and the treats. Which in turn made my son and I happy. It was a BIG hit with the pooch.

We've received a few other BarkBoxes since the first and each one has been a hit with the doggie. However since Gizmo loves to destroy the toys, I emailed them and asked if they had recommendations or other options I could choose from. In less than 24 hours they responded with a very fun email with lots of "dog language" like "Howloo" instead of hello and "Pee.S." instead of P.S. and provided me with two options one which was free and one that was a upgrade. How often do you find a company that will make a change that's free instead of just saying that the only option available is at an extra cost? I liked that! And even though it took me a couple weeks to respond, when I did they made the change without hassle and responded within a few hours. Yes, I said a few hours and it's Christmas Eve. I know they have template emails and maybe even a robo-email program, but it's still nice, as a customer, to receive a response that quickly and without a ton of hassle. What can I say, another plus for this company. 

First BarkBox

I'll have to let you know how the stronger toys hold up against The Fruitloop, but I have nothing but positive things to say about BarkBox and their customer service. If you have a pup it's definitely worth a shot. Enjoy!!

BarkBox main page: www. barkbox.com

Referral link: https://www.barkbox.com/r/K1DEW1ZDO7