We’re onto Week Two of the ‘My Dog Is A Toy Destroyer’ challenge and things are going swimmingly well. The toy has held up to the rigorous abuse of not just Ryker but the rest of the Work-A-Bull crew (when Ryker opts to share this delightful toy!) and held up beautifully. It has proven to be an amazing addition to the toy basket and remains a top chosen toy by Mr. Toy Snob who has his favorites.

Here’s what we had to say directly to our friends over at Ruffwear for our time with the Huckama™ for Week Two:

We’ve definitely had a fun second week with the Huckama™. As the time has passed and the “new toy smell” has disappeared (with it being carried *everywhere*), Ryker’s become more and more obsessed with it and spends most of his time with it in his mouth or near him in some fashion (usually under his chin if he’s resting). He has it with him pretty much all the time. It has, ultimately, become his favorite toy to the point he hasn’t even bothered to shred his sister’s stuffy toys that she covets.

We’ve been using the toy lately as a reward for good obedience as an option from the ball on the string or the treats we normally use. With his intensity toward the toy, it has made for some beautiful heeling work in terms of focus – something I can definitely appreciate since it’s always a struggle to keep his focus!

We’ve been including a bit of “work” into his time with the Huckama using the Biscuit Buddy goodies we got along with the Huckama and, occasionally, a dab of peanut butter around one or two of the holes as an added tease – especially when we want him to relax for a little bit. Long after the goodies are gone, he’ll still happily chew on it.

We’ve gotten a bit of cracking going around a few of the holes from his continued gnawing but it is definitely holding up very well with his continual chewing and gnawing on it – something I’m very, very impressed with as many other toys have failed once the cracking started and he took advantage of the tiny weakness – which hasn’t seemed to happen with the Huckama™!

With coming into Week Three and wrapping up our reporting time, we’ll be adding a review that you will be able to find on the drop down options at the top of the page. We expect more rigorous time with the Huckama™ and many, many more months to come but who beats this challenge will be decided next week. Will it be Ryker or the Huckama™?

Recently, we entered a contest with Ruffwear Performance Dog Gear contest to try out one of their durable rubber toys and were lucky enough to get selected by the folks who were choosing the winners. Ryker, along with four other lucky dogs, get to try out the Huckama™ or the Turnup™ toy for three whole weeks (and we get to keep this awesome toy if it survives!) while writing weekly updates on the durability, canine interest level and how we generally feel about the toy while providing pictures and/or videos of our dogs enjoying their goodies. It’s definitely a challenge that Ryker is going to thoroughly enjoy for the next three weeks and at the end, there will be a review made of the overall toy for Work-A-Bull readers to enjoy as well which will also include links back to these three weeks of toy destroying fun!

Ryker was selected to get the Huckama™ by the awesome folks over at Conservation Canines. Let me tell you, I was very, very excited to get this of the two options because of all of the little hiding spots I could put goodies into. Ryker, however, was even more excited and continually attempted to snatch the packaging from me while I was opening it for him to have a chance at it since we got it later in the week than the rest of the Toy Destroyer challengers.

Here is the write-up we sent over to the good folks at Ruffwear in regard to our first week with the Huckama™ toy for Week One!

“When I first opened our package, I was gleefully surprised at the Huckama. Not only is it larger than your standard tennis ball (something I worry about him swallowing if he chews it up!), it has holes and is hollow on the inside – which makes it PERFECT for stuffing small bits of treat into to provide additional entertainment. It’s a nice, soft rubber but it was very difficult for me to compress so I am guessing it may actually hold up to him for a while!

Ryker was extremely excited to play with the toy. He repeatedly attempted to steal it out of my hands before I was even able to get the packaging off and attempted to help me remove it from the packaging before I was ready. When we tossed it, it bounced erratically and kept him guessing on where it would go. This kept the entertainment factor up high for him and kept him wanting it more. Once he was finally out of breath from throwing it in the air by himself, I stuffed a few goodies inside which gave him the opportunity to work them out of the holes in the toy. (Even with his continued chewing, there were no teeth marks or punctures!)

Even though we got a late start on playing with our toy, I will definitely give it a five on durability and resiliency. The fun shape and added holes are allowing for lots of rambunctious play with and continuous entertainment. He definitely isn’t bored and hasn’t let any of the other dogs near it – which is mega praise from him as he doesn’t usually hoard toys and readily shares with them.”

Even though we got it later in the week, we made the most of it (and the other goodies we got in our package too – which included a Hover Craft™ Frisbee too) and Ryker got to help break in the new house’s yard while doing what he does best – destroying toys!

If you want to follow along with the other “My Dog Is A Toy Destroyer” challengers, click here. We wish Ari the Dutch Shepherd, Henrietta the Australian Cattle Dog mix, Dozer the Boxer and Maya the Chesapeake Bay Retriever the best of luck in the challenge for the remaining two weeks!