Item: Dogby Discovery Box, a subscription box with interactive games and enrichment activities designed to help you and your dog learn and have fun together
Cost: $75-$95 per box depending on subscription plan tier
Code ROVERREHAB10 will give you 10% off your first payment in a subscription (can be combined with “subscribe and save” discounts)
Disclaimer: I received this box for free in exchange for my honest feedback!
Why This Product is Cool
Dogby offers subscription box “Discovery Kits” designed to provide enriching and fun activities for our dogs while also teaching us dog guardians more about why our dogs do what they do! Subscription boxes ship once every two months and each one is themed to provide a peek into our dog’s world, from how they use smell to explore and learn, to what our dog’s emotional experiences are and how to interpret what they are feeling. The upcoming theme for February and March boxes is bonding, where boxes will include items and activities that offer a deep dive into how our dogs connect and relate to people and other animals.
Dogby Box was created by a dog trainer with experience working with private clients as well as in the shelter environment. She was inspired to create Dogby after noticing how subscription boxes for human kiddos make it easier for parents to learn about their child’s development and foster learning through play, and wanted to create something similar for dogs and dog guardians!
What the Box Contains
Dogby boxes contain a variety of items curated to give you and your dog lots of fun and enriching experiences to enjoy, with activities for your dog to do independently as well as ones for you to enjoy together. The box I received was for the “Sense of Smell” themed month and included treats, toys, and gear centered around giving our dogs opportunities to use their powerful noses in enriching ways.
The sense of smell box included:
A snuffle mat from The Waggly Hound (enjoyed here by my cat, Minerva). I have another snuffle mat from this small business and I love it so I was really excited to get another one. The fleece strips create lots of nooks and crannies to tuck treats into, which my dog Molly appreciated pretty immediately when she took this snuffle mat for a test run!
Penguin Cave Burrow toy from ZippyPaws, which comes with three little stuffed penguins and their igloo home. My dogs like to push their nose into the igloo windows to pull out a penguin or toss the whole igloo around if I sprinkle treats inside.
12-foot biothane long leash from JP Paracord Designs. This looks to be another small business, and although it’s one that I hadn’t heard of before this leash looks to be of nice quality and craftsmanship. I’m a big fan of biothane and this long leash is the perfect length for a decompressing sniffy walk or for getting more comfortable with something a bit longer than a 5 or 6-foot leash on your neighborhood walk.
Introduction to scent work kit. I’ve been considering doing some additional scent work with my dogs and this little kit has everything I’ll need to get started. Which for me is great because already having the materials on hand means I’ll be much more likely to actually do this activity (yes, even trainers struggle with procrastination!).
Redbarn dog food roll treats (I received the chicken recipe flavor). Roll treats like this can be chopped into small pieces and used for training or scent-based games like the ones listed in the booklet that comes with this box.
An information booklet containing lots of different games and activities to try with your dog plus info on why smell is so important for dogs. The booklet has links to additional resources and instructions for activities using the items included in the subscription box plus using items you likely already have at home (like turning a cardboard box into a snuffle box!).
What I Like About Dogby
I really appreciated how this box contained not only a variety of items that encourage sniffing for our dogs, but also that many of the items were sourced from small businesses! I love shopping small so this detail was valuable to me. The booklet of information also contained so many great nuggets of knowledge as well as easily digestible instructions for interactive games and activities to play with my dogs using the Dogby box goodies. There were QR codes with links to resources if I wanted to learn more, and all of the information was laid out in a way that was easy to read and got me excited about doing even more fun things with my dogs. There were a few activities in the booklet that I might approach a little differently for my own dogs and their individual preferences, but overall it was a nice introduction for dog guardians to multiple ways to engage their dog’s sense of smell.
This Dogby box was a fun addition to our enrichment repertoire and gave me renewed appreciation for the power of our dog’s noses and how we can harness that to give them more opportunities for fun and fulfilling activities. I think this subscription box would be a fun one to add to any dog guardian’s routine as each box has a different theme and provides items of good value (both $$ and function). A Dogby subscription could also make a great gift option for a dog guardian in your life who wants to explore more ways to learn with their dog!
You can learn more about Dogby boxes at https://dogbybox.com, and save 10% on your first subscription order payment with code ROVERREHAB10.