Archive for the ‘Plush Puppies’ Category

“What’s a Bottle Buddy?” A regular visitor to Kyjen.com might know the answer, but the casual shopper in Fort Collins, Colorado might not.  And that’s just what Arfy’s Mercantile for Dogs and Cats is counting on.  Hoping to pique the interest of shoppers walking by with that simple question, they placed it in on sign board out front (see larger photo here).  Nice job Arfy’s!

If you’ve seen any other creative ways retailers are redirect foot traffic inside, let us know and we’ll pass it on.

If you don’t live in Fort Collins and you want to know what a Bottle Buddy is, please check it in our store.

Here is a must watch video of an amazing dog, Simon, who takes out 74 balloons in a mere 57 seconds. That’s more than one balloon a second!

I hooked up with his owners recently and got Simon a few of our Plush Puppies Dog Toys.  Simon apparently loves them as much as people love watching him play! Check out these videos and more on their YouTube channel.

Check out this new slide show graphic on our home page. It explains the concept behind our Squeaker Mats perfectly: It’s like Bubble Wrap for Dogs! We have seen so many comments on Twitter and other places by people looking for a more durable, long-lasting toy, well the Squeaker Mats are the ticket.  If your dog kills one squeaker, they still have 15 to go!  The Squeaker Mats might drive you crazy, but we guarantee that your dog will love ‘em!

 

Here at Kyjen we have an unofficial motto: “We only make dog toys that we would buy for our own dog.” Granted, it’s not as catchy as “We will sell no wine before it’s time”, but it’s a philosophy we proudly adhere to. Before any Kyjen dog toy makes it to the stores, it is first quality- and safety-tested to make sure it’s well-crafted and durable – but the most crucial factor in determining if a toy is worthy of the Kyjen name is the dog test, wherein we give the toy to actual dogs and see what they think of it. After all, what good is a well-crafted, durable dog toy if it doesn’t appeal to actual dogs?

 

         

 

McMoose is a 2 ½ year-old, 100 lb. yellow lab owned by Kyle and Jennifer  (the “Ky” and “Jen”, respectively, of “Kyjen”), and he has the enviable job title of #1 Kyjen dog toy tester. A true connoisseur, McMoose has chewed over more nylon and plush playthings than most dogs will ever dream of. As you would imagine, a dog of his experience is not easily impressed, and like any true professional, his judgment is unsparingly honest and forthright. Sure, some feelings may get hurt when he turns up his nose – but when he likes something, he really likes it.  

      

Take the squeaker mat. Kyle and Jennifer came up with the idea for this simple plush toy while watching their two young sons play with a sheet of bubble wrap one day. The idea was, since dogs love toys with squeakers in them, why not design a toy that’s all squeakers? Modeling their design after that sheet of bubble wrap, they came up with the Mega Squeak Squeaker Mat Dog Toy: a flat, quilt-like square of soft, plush material with a squeaker stitched into each block of its checker board pattern, sixteen squeakers in all. Surely, dogs would like it: a soft, streamlined squeaker supply system, functional as both a mat and a toy. Only one way to know for sure, of course, so when they got the first Squeaker Mat samples from the factory, they gave one to McMoose.

 

It’s safe to say McMoose likes his Squeaker Mat. No – that’s an understatement. What McMoose feels for his Squeaker Mat goes deeper than that. It’s love. Kyle and Jennifer have seen McMoose involved with other toys, but these relationships have been fleeting, as they inevitably must be when there are so many other toys crowding for McMoose’s attention. But this time it’s different – it looks like the Squeaker Mat is The One. McMoose wakes up in the morning with his Squeaker Mat, he carries it around with him all day, and at night he goes to sleep with it. If that’s not love, we don’t know what is. As you can see from the photo below, McMoose’s love is not always gentle, but that’s why there are sixteen squeakers in the Squeaker Mats. 

 

         

 

 Has the Squeaker Mat spoiled McMoose for all future plush/squeaky toys? We hope not. But we’re glad he’s happy.