We have bought many of the Air Kong Toys for our dog. They all look like a tennis ball but have a great squeaker to them. All of them also have the same issue with my dog and that is that he can easily pull off the yellow fuzz which ends up everywhere.
You might ask why we still buy them. The answer is that the dog just loves them. So even though I know I have to really watch him with them and that they won’t last long I still can’t help myself. We have bought this same dumbbell more than once and our dog Riley just loves it.
Description
The Air Kong Dumbbell is made from rubber that is hollow and covered with a yellow fuzzy material. It looks very similar to a tennis ball. The shape is like a dumbbell which is great for our small dog as he can hold it in his mouth with the ball sticking out either side. He can squeak it easily by chomping down on it.
The dog toy comes in 3 sizes. The small is 5 inches long, the medium is 7 inches long and the large size is 9.5 inches long. We have a 25 lb Cairn Terrier and this is perfect for him. Cairns have larger jaws for a dog their size so if you have a similar weight dog with a smaller mouth they might like the small one better. I would suggest looking at them and picking the one that will fit best for your dog leaving the larger ends outside of his mouth while playing.
The toy has white accent marks much like a tennis ball and the Air Dog Squeaker in black and blue lettering.
Play Value
My dog Riley absolutely loves the Air Kong Toys. I think that the dumbbell is one of his favorites. He really loves them all though. They have a great squeaker which can drive you crazy but it seems to make my dog so happy that it just makes me laugh out loud when he is playing with it.
You can throw this toy without hurting too much in your house, so long as you do not hit a lamp. One thing I like about it, is that it does not scuff the floors like some other rubber or plastic toys do. It is rather heavy though so you can not throw it without taking aim to avoid anything it could knock over and break.
When you throw this it tends to bounce in unpredictable ways which adds to the play value.
We will keep buying the Air Kong Toys for Riley even though he destroys them in a few days. This is a great toy for a special occasion like a Birthday or Christmas. Or really any day you want to see your dog happy.
How durable is it?
Sadly this toy will bite the dust in one day if I do not watch my dog with it. I think Riley enjoys ripping it to shreds and perhaps that is part of the reason he likes it so much. I usually try to just keep it to playing fetch and then put it away for the first couple days but eventually he will get it in a corner and start ripping the fuzz off. He will continue until he has this whole thing ripped open. Usually after the fuzz the squeaker is next and after that the whole thing is open and ready for the trash can. We paid about $5 for it, and I do think my dog gets $5 of fun out of it.
Your dog may or may not react the way that mine does though. Cairn Terriers have very strong jaws and can really do a lot of damage for a small dog. If you have a gentler breed they might be content to just play fetch with this toy.
Final Recommendations
This would get 5 stars if it was a little more durable, but our dog loves it so much that I will still recommend it and give it 4 stars even though it does not last very long.
