Really Quite Orb-ful (Orbo Dog Toy)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Orbo Dog Toy
Date:	24/03/09 (354 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Recyclable, makes a good fetch toy

Disadvantages: Easily chewed, no mint scent like it claims, expensive, place for treats is too small, not strong

*What is the Orbo Dog Toy?*
This dog toy is produced by the Orbee Tuff company, a fairly newly established company who produce a wide range of rubber dog toys which cater for all life stages, from puppies right through to toys designed especially with older dogs in mind.

*The product itself*
Regular readers of my reviews will know that I am currently on an on going mission to find suitable toys for my two dogs which they can't chew to pieces within minutes of me buying them, some have been a success, lasting quite well whilst others have gone to same way as all the rest- into the bin in hundreds of little pieces! This Orbo Dog Toy is one of the most recent toys I've purchased in a bit to provide a little bit of non-destroyable entertainment for them!

Benson, my Bernese Mountain Dog recently passed the Gold Award of the Kennel Club Good Citizen Scheme, for those who are unfamiliar with this, it's a scheme set up by the Kennel Club which has 3 levels- bronze, silver and gold and aims to promote responsible dog ownership by good dog training. So I decided that this definitely deserved a reward, as we, well should I say Benson, has worked very hard to get there since passing the Silver Award last year, so into Pets At Home I called to find him a few new bits and bobs for his efforts, one of the new toys I picked up was this Orbo Dog Toy, produced by the Orbee Tuff company.

There were on a 'just in' stand in the shop, so either they're fairly new toys to be released or my local Pets At Home store has just started to stock them, but either way, I've never seen them before and I was sure it would be a toy Benson, and not forgetting Grace, would enjoy so I brought one for them. They're quite strange in appearance, but kind of resemble the highly popular Kong toys- a larger circular base with a smaller circular section on top and a small opening on the bottom which Orbee Tuff call a 'Treat Spot', unlike Kong toys however, the Orbo isn't a hollow toy- treats can only be inserted in the small 'Treat Spot'. The Orbo is made from very soft but also extremely durable rubber which creates an excellent multipurpose toy- one that can be used for chewing, hiding treats in and also for fetch, as it has an erratic bounce when it hits the floor.

The Orbo is also very eco friendly, which will no doubt make it popular in this day and age which all the talk about damaging the environment! It is made from non-toxic rubber and is 100% recyclable so even if your dog does manage to destroy it, it can at least be recycled. A peppermint scent is mixed into the rubber which helps to engage and interest your dog and also helps to freshen your dogs breath as they chew the toy, the soft pliable rubber that the Orbo is made from is designed to take the impact of your dogs teeth when they bite down on it, so that their teeth sink into the rubber without puncturing it and then the Orbo will spring back into shape when your dogs loosens its grip.

*Packaging*
The Orbo comes attached to a small piece of cardboard which enables it to hang up on pet shop shelves. This piece of cardboard informs us of the product and manufactures name, intended use and cleaning instructions for the Orbo. It also states the contact details for Orbee Tuff should you have any questions or comments, this however is an American address and telephone number, so if you do need to get into contact with them, the internet may well be the way to go.

*Price & Availability*
The Orbo comes in three sizes and three different colours, and there is also a softer version available for teething puppies. I purchased the large size which stands at 5 inches tall and is a green and blue colour, from Pets At Home for £8.99. I have also seen it available on several places online for a cheaper price, so it pays to shop around if you are considering getting one for your dog.

*My opinion*
What first attracted me to the Orbo toy in Pets At Home was its very unusual and brightly coloured design, and on closer inspection it seemed like a very good toy. It has a nice heavy weight to it but yet the rubber is very soft unlike the tough hard rubber that Kong toys are made from, so it seemed like a toy both Grace and Benson would enjoy as they love fetch and they love chew toy and this Orbo could provide them with both!

Back at home the dogs were both obviously very eager to sample their new toy. I took them out into the garden and chucked it for them and upon hitting the ground, it bounced a good 6 foot or so, and I'm not a particularly good thrower so I was very impressed with this as were the dogs, it provides them with good exercise and also helps to sharpen their reflexes as they must change their running direction quickly to get the Orbo when it bounces and hits the floor, yet it is also nice and soft so if one of them manages to jump up and catch the toy before it hits the ground, it lands softly in their mouths and doesn't hurt them or have the potential to damage their teeth like those awful Nylabones or harder rubber toys do.

So from the fetch game side of things, the Orbo wins on all counts. Sadly the same can't be said when using the Orbo as a chew toy. The packaging rates the toy are 4 out of 5 on their 'Chomper System' which means it should be suitable for strong dogs with aggressive chewing habits which is what I would say is the category Grace and Benson both fall into. However after just ten minutes or so of chewing from Benson, he had managed to separate the smaller circular top part from the larger circular base and then shred it into lots of tiny little rubber pieces, which I have to say I wasn't too pleased with considering I'd paid pretty much £9 for it and it was advertised as being suitable for dogs who are strong chewers. So the Orbo ended up in the bin and it goes down as just another one of many toys that Grace and Benson have managed to murder!

The 'Treat Spot' was also far too small in my opinion. It is only around one centimetre wide with the same depth and it's the large toy that my dogs had, so it must be even smaller on the medium and small sizes. I filled it with a small amount of peanut butter when I gave it to Benson for a chew on but it would be near impossible to fit any solid treats such as biscuits or moist chewy treats in there so it doesn't really serve much purpose, as it is very easy for the dogs to remove the food in a very short amount of time. The peppermint scent which they toy claimed to have was also non-existent, well in the Orbo we had anyway! I smelt the toy before I gave it to the dogs and couldn't smell anything but presumed it would be released as the dogs chewed it, but nothing! Even when the toy had been broken and was wet from Benson's chewing, I still couldn't smell the faintest scent of peppermint and there was no trace of it on Benson's breath either.

Overall, a good fetch toy and if Orbee Tuff brings out a ball version of the Orbo then I'll definitely buy it as I liked how soft and safe it was to play fetch with and I liked how much it bounced but as a chew toy, the Orbo is pretty useless. Granted it may be more suitable for smaller dogs and less aggressive chewers but it's marketed as being suitable for large dogs and strong chewers and it certainly isn't! At least the Orbo is recyclable eh?!

Summary: Another toy that has met an ugly death at the paws of Grace and Benson!