On the day after Thanksgiving, Erik told SPHP that a gift from Erik & Ana would be arriving soon in the form of an email. Erik & Ana know how crazy SPHP is about Lupe, so they had chosen wisely. When the email turned up a couple of days later it said “Congratulations!! You’ve Received a Gift Subscription to PupJoy!”
When SPHP told Lupe about the email, she quickly agreed it sounded promising, despite the fact that, neither SPHP nor Lupe had the faintest idea what it really meant.
The email contained a link to claim the gift subscription, which took SPHP to a screen where basic information about Lupe had to be entered to proceed (size, age, sex – that sort of thing). That was easy enough, but next came a few options about various subscriptions – how many boxes did Lupe want, how often, etc?
All SPHP wanted to do was claim Lupe’s free gift, not sign up for an ongoing subscription, so SPHP used PupJoy’s online chat feature and wound up speaking with a very pleasant fellow by the name of Dustin. Dustin explained that Lupe’s free gift subscription was for a single shipment of one box. The box would contain items chosen by PupJoy for Lupe based on the initial information SPHP had provided about her. Only a few clicks later, Lupe’s PupJoy box was on order.
SPHP told Lupe that her PupJoy box was on its way! Every morning after that, SPHP made a big deal about letting Lupe out on the front step to see if her PupJoy box was here yet. Lupe enjoyed this routine, but seemed a little puzzled by it, since even using her amazingly keen Carolina Dog sensory powers, she didn’t notice a single thing different about the front step than before.
Nothing changed until the morning of December 6th. When Lupe went out to inspect the front step, there it was! Lupe’s PupJoy box had arrived! Even though what might be in the PupJoy box was still a total mystery, Lupe already seemed happy.
Both Lupe and SPHP were curious. What was in this PupJoy box?
When you’re about to open a treasure chest, you don’t do it in front of the whole world. SPHP took the box in the house. Moments later, it was open. Inside were 4 items – 2 dog toys and 2 bags of treats. Before trying any of it out, Lupe agreed to pose briefly on the back step with all her newly acquired PupJoy loot.
All of Lupe’s new possessions looked like high quality items. SPHP was hopeful Lupe would like them. Maybe Lupe would like to try the dog treats first? SPHP opened the 8 oz. green bag of Down Dog Snacks – Peas, Love & Carrots flavor. The package said they were made of All-Natural, Real, Simple Ingredients.
The Down Dog Treats were shaped like hearts, about the size of a half dollar. When SPHP gave one to Lupe, she took it in her mouth, held it for a second or two, then dropped it on the ground. SPHP gave it back to her several times. Each time she did the same thing, except faster than before. Lupe didn’t want one.
Well, that was disappointing. Maybe she would like some of Grandma Lucy’s Organic Baked Dog Treats – Pumpkin Recipe? Lupe had a big 14 oz. bag of those. Pumpkin seemed like an odd flavor for dogs, but who knew? Sometimes Lupe likes things one wouldn’t expect. SPHP opened the bag. The treats were small and shaped like little teddy bears. Lupe could have several of them, if she liked them. They did smell like pumpkin.
Unfortunately, the Grandma Lucy’s Pumpkin Recipe treats suffered the same fate as the Down Dog Snacks. Into the mouth, then dropped almost immediately on the ground. Lupe simply didn’t want them. She didn’t have the slightest interest.
Normally, when Lupe gets dog treats, she practically inhales them. One wonders if she can even taste them? Half a second and the treats are gone, with Lupe begging for more. Not with the PupJoy treats, though. She didn’t want a thing to do with either of them.
Well, it was too bad. Although Lupe sometimes likes to share oatmeal, squash, sweet potatoes and a few things like that with SPHP, Lupe wasn’t used to organic vegetable treats. Peas, carrots, and pumpkin aren’t on the usual Lupe menu. All the treats she gets regularly are meat flavored or animal-based – chicken, beef, pork, bacon, cheese. Maybe Lupe would eventually get used to these PupJoy treats, if SPHP kept giving them to her over a few days? If not, SPHP could try giving them away to a more appreciative neighbor’s dog.
What about the PupJoy toys? The American Dog brand carrot was bright and colorful, but seemed like a strange thing for a dog to play with. It did have a squeaker inside. Besides making the squeaker squeak, though, what would Lupe do with it? Not a darn thing was the immediate response. When SPHP offered her the American Dog carrot, Lupe sniffed it with almost total disinterest before walking away. Hmm, so far, PupJoy was 0 for 3. Not good.
However, SPHP hoped the best had been saved for last. The last toy was the Tuffy Ultflyer by MyDogToy.com. It was like a Frisbee, but made of cloth. Like the American Dog carrot, it also had a squeaker sewn inside.
When Lupe was very young, she used to play with a hard plastic Frisbee. She liked the Frisbee, but the hard plastic often resulted in mouth injuries that bled. For that reason, Lupe’s early days playing with a Frisbee were confined to only a few months. After a while, the mouth injuries didn’t seem worth it, even though Lupe completely ignored them and appeared to be having lots of fun.
Lupe’s cousin Dusty has a soft pliable plastic flying disc like a Frisbee, but Lupe never plays with it. Lupe prefers to play defense, trying to herd Dusty when Dusty tries to catch it. Even the soft pliable plastic flying disc occasionally makes Dusty’s mouth bleed. The worst part of it, though, is that both Dusty and Lupe will chew pieces off of it when no one is watching.
A cloth Frisbee made of really tough material seemed like a good idea to SPHP, but it had been years since Lupe had chased a flying disc. Would she like it?
Yes, she did! Lupe did like the Tuffy Ultflyer. Her new flying disc was an instant hit!
Lupe and SPHP weren’t in very good flying disc form at the beginning. SPHP found the disc rather stiff and hard to throw accurately. Lupe’s favorite toys have been balls. She is used to letting them bounce once before snatching them out of the air. Lupe kept making the mistake of letting the flying disc hit the ground before trying to grab it. The flying disc didn’t bounce at all, although once in a while it landed rolling on edge.
The flying disc almost always died right where it first hit the ground. Still, Lupe did have fun chasing it. In hot pursuit, Lupe kept coming to screeching stops, before scrambling back to grab it. She then thought it was fun to try to make the flying disc squeak. The squeaker wasn’t very loud, but those big soft Dingo ears could hear the squeaker well enough.
Lupe wanted to go practice with the flying disc many times that afternoon. She kept bringing it to SPHP, who obliged her with a few more tosses each session. Gradually SPHP was getting the hang of throwing the flying disc. It took a while for Lupe to realize she could catch her new flying disc in the air without letting it bounce. She had even more fun streaking after it then!
Despite SPHP offering the Down Dog Snacks and Grandma Lucy’s Dog Treats to Lupe several more times that first day, Lupe’s opinion of them hadn’t changed. She didn’t eat a single one of either kind. Neither did she show any interest in the American Dog fabric carrot. 1 out of 4 isn’t very good, but at least Lupe did get some real enjoyment out of her Tuffy Ultflyer. PupJoy hadn’t struck out completely.
The next morning, there was another email from PupJoy. This one requested feedback from Lupe. Ouch! It wasn’t going to be too pretty. SPHP felt sort of bad filling out the response questionnaire, but the truth was the truth. Besides, the opinions were really Lupe’s, and Carolina Dogs are always honest about their feelings. Still it seemed a shame, when all the PupJoy products were high quality, and Dustin had been so nice to deal with.
On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, SPHP gave PupJoy a ranking of only 2. SPHP wrote a detailed explanation of what Lupe thought of each product to explain the low ranking, then hit the send button. Nothing happened. The feedback didn’t go through. Maybe there was a limit to the number of characters or time taken for the response? Technology – who knew?
No matter, PupJoy would have been disappointed in Lupe’s opinion anyway. Although, if PupJoy was really interested in making their services better, it’s patterns of negative responses that are most apt to alert them to potential problems in need of solutions. However, Lupe’s opinion was only a single data point. SPHP wasn’t going to try to rewrite and resend all that again.
And that’s how things stayed until the evening of that second day. Sometime after dark, an unexpected visitor showed up at the door of SPHP’s office. By golly, if it wasn’t Bugs Dingo!
Bugs Dingo was looking bright-eyed, curly tailed, and cute as a button. A carrot still seemed like a crazy dog toy, but Bugs Dingo had a different opinion. She was ready for some wild American Dog squeaker carrot action!
The game was Keep Away. Up and down the stairs. From the living room through the hall to the bedroom and back. Over and over again. Bugs Dingo was lightning fast and elusive despite the confined quarters. However, when SPHP did manage to corner Bugs and make a grab for the carrot, it was made of such slick material that Bugs Dingo had a hard time managing to hang on to it.
Keep Away evolved into Tug-O-War. It took Bugs a while to learn how to maintain a good grip on the fat end of the carrot. When SPHP got sole possession, the carrot was flung to the far side of the room, or up or down the stairs. Bugs Dingo dashed after it every time, bringing it back to SPHP instantly, for more carrot fun.
The games went on to the extent of SPHP’s endurance. Bugs Dingo didn’t want to let that carrot get put away. She wanted to make it squeak, and like any rodent, she wanted to gnaw on it. Bugs Dingo took it to bed with her that evening. She wanted that American Dog carrot, and not her usual rawhide stick.
The American Dog carrot wasn’t the only thing Lupe changed her mind about. After a couple of days of offering the Down Dog Snacks and Grandma Lucy’s Oven Baked Dog Treats to Lupe multiple times a day, only to be turned down each time, SPHP started just leaving a few treats scattered around on the floor.
At first, nothing happened. On the floor they remained. SPHP was about to conclude that those healthy treats really were going to have to be given away. However, Lupe had been pondering something. Since she was now part rabbit, as Bugs Dingo, maybe she didn’t have to be a total meat-eating predator? Maybe some veggies were OK?
After laying on the floor for a couple of days, one morning SPHP woke up to find the treats had all disappeared. SPHP tossed a few more on the floor. Those disappeared, too. Not right away, but eventually. Gradually, Lupe was warming up to healthy veggie treats. Grandma Lucy’s Pumpkin Recipe was her early favorite, but soon she was just as ready to accept the Down Dog Snacks Peas, Love & Carrots treats.
Over the course of a week, a new PupJoy routine emerged. With snow on the ground, balls didn’t bounce. During the day, Lupe preferred chasing her new Tuffy Ultflyer. In addition to becoming quite good at catching it in mid-air, she enjoyed making it squeak. She really liked latching onto it with her jaws, and being slung around by SPHP whirling in a circle with all 4 paws off the ground. Whee!
Many times each day, Lupe brought her flying disc to SPHP to announce that it was time for another flying disc session. When her birthday came on 12-14-16, Lupe started her day off right with her flying disc.
In the evenings, Bugs Dingo wanted to play with the American Dog carrot. Up and down the stairs, racing back and forth between rooms. Keep Away and Tug-O-War. When SPHP tired out, Lupe still wanted to make that carrot squeak, and still wanted to gnaw on it. Although it’s made of tough material, SPHP had to put the carrot away to keep it from being totally demolished in short order.
On Christmas Eve, Lupe even took her carrot with her to Grandma’s house.
At bedtime, Lupe continued hopping up on the bed with SPHP like she usually does. Instead of wanting her usual rawhide stick, though, she had a new idea for a nightly routine.
Apparently Lupe had read the part on the Down Dog Snacks bag about “Feed as a training snack.” It worked! She quickly trained SPHP to feed her more snacks. Lupe stayed next to SPHP on the bed, happily munching and crunching away on Grandma Lucy’s Pumpkin Recipe and Down Dog Snacks Peas, Love & Carrots flavor treats. Every so often, she would bark or growl to signal the need for a fresh supply.
So where do things stand now, nearly 2 months after Lupe received her PupJoy box? The Tuffy Ultflyer flying disc from MyDogToy.com is looking kind of bedraggled, but remains basically intact. SPHP continues to throw it for Lupe many times each day.
The American Dog carrot has suffered quite a bit of gnawing damage, inflicted during a couple of brief oversights when Bugs Dingo was left alone with it for a few minutes. One of the two green tops is completely gone. The end of the carrot is missing, and half of the stuffing torn out. Bugs Dingo still loves the carrot, though, and still gets to play Keep Away and Tug-O-War with it most evenings.
Lupe still has quite a supply of her usual treats received from Santa and other benefactors at Christmas. However, all of the Grandma Lucy’s Pumpkin Recipe and Down Dog Snacks Peas, Love & Carrots flavor treats were munched and crunched up long ago. Well before they ran out, it was clear Lupe was really enjoying them.
First impressions aren’t always right. Lupe’s initial 2 out of 5 stars first impression drastically under-rated PupJoy. Lupe wound up enjoying all 4 of the products in her PupJoy box. SPHP thought only the carrot was a little weak for Lupe. Even though it is made of military grade material and designed to be tough, Bugs Dingo had no problem causing significant gnawing damage in only a few minutes when left alone with the American Dog carrot.
So maybe PupJoy should have been given 3.5 out of 4 stars for the products Lupe received. The 5th star should be saved for evaluating cost, always an important consideration. Of course, Lupe’s first PupJoy box was a gift from Erik & Ana (thank you!), so to Lupe, the price was an unbeatable free of charge.
SPHP did a little checking online and found the following approximate retail costs for the items Lupe got in her first PupJoy box: Down Dog Snacks $10, Grandma Lucy’s Oven Baked Treats $9, American Dog carrot $10, Tuffy Ultimate Flyer $16.70. Total retail value of $45.70. Since the PupJoy website shows a cost for gift boxes ranging from $23 to $44 with free shipping in the USA ($5 in Canada), it appears PupJoy does offer at least fair value for money spent, and perhaps a discount.
What it all boils down to is Lupe’s new PupJoy rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars. Is she hoping there’s more PupJoy in her future? Of course, she is!
Reasons to try PupJoy
- Healthy treats with All Natural, Grain Sensitive, Protein Sensitive & Organic options
- Premium quality toys
- Customizable box contents – 28 possible configurations
- Choice of subscription plans available – a one time single box; or quarterly, bi-monthly, or monthly regularly scheduled shipments
- Gift plans available
- Convenient home delivery
- $2 of each PupJoy box purchase is donated to help give shelter animals a chance at life
Interested in trying PupJoy? Tell them Bugs Dingo sent you! Use this link to receive a $10 PupJoy welcome before ordering, and Lupe will receive a PupJoy credit, too! Simply enter your information where Lupe’s appears and submit. Lupe thanks you, and hopes you have a wonderful PupJoy experience, too!
Links:
Want more Lupe adventures? Choose from Lupe’s Dingo Tales Index or Master Adventure Index. Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.