Is BarkBox Right for Your Dog?
Our little Lucy is a destructor. There’s no way around it. Yes, she’s small. She only weights 25 pounds. But she’s all muscle and when we give her a new toy, her goal isn’t to play with it. Her goal is to destroy it as soon as possible.
So, we don’t get her too many toys. Every couple weeks we’ll give her a rawhide so she can use her muscles to destroy something, but even the medium-sized ones only last 24 hours.
We’d heard a lot about BarkBox over the past couple months and wanted to give it a shot. What the hell, let’s spoil our little girl. Here’s our experience.
Our BarkBox Review
Overall, it was okay. We didn’t hate it, but we sure didn’t love it. There were a couple big negatives, such as the cost, which was way too high. Worse, some of the toys broke apart into small pieces of rubbery-plastic that looked easy to swallow and not so easy to digest.
Pros:
- Christmas for your dog every month
- Chew toys
- Treats
- Don’t have to leave the house
Cons:
- Cost
- Some toys didn’t make sense
- Some toys broke apart awkwardly
What Is BarkBox?
BarkBox is a monthly subscription service that delivers a box of toys and treats for your dog based on a monthly theme depending on the plan you choose. Each month there’s a different theme. For our two months (we forgot to cancel before the second one shipped) we received Christmas (I suppose holidays would be the politically correct, “non-offensive” way to say that now) and New York, New York.
BarkBox: Super Chewer vs. Destroyer’s Club
The Super Chewer is an upgraded version of the regular monthly subscription. On the other hand, the Destroyer’s Club are durable toys designed for destructors.
The Super Chewer monthly plan offers:
- 2 Tough toys
- 2 Full-size bag of treats
- 2 Meaty chews
The BarkBox Destroyer’s Club are specific dog toys designed to withstand the onslaught of destroyers like Lucy. But I’m a little confused by the website. All of the images are of the toys destroyed, with the cotton everywhere and a happy puppy sitting in the middle of the mess. That’s not exactly what I’m looking for when I buy toys. I want them to last.
We’ve completely stopped buying fluffy toys for this reason. Even some of the Kong Toys—which we’ve found to be the most durable—will succumb to Lucy’s persistence and strong desire to destroy, especially if we go a couple weeks without giving her a rawhide.
We haven’t tried the Destroyer’s Club toys. But, with a price around $8.50 per toy and with only images of the toys destroyed, I can’t see us trying it anytime soon. I see a destroyed toy in a photo and wonder how long it took that to happen. Because for Lucy, it’s about an hour.
How Much Does BarkBox Cost?
Currently, you have three options for the regular BarkBox subscriptions (not including the Super Chewer plans):
| Plan | Cost | Month to Month or Paid Up Front |
| Monthly | $35/box | Month to Month |
| 6-Month Subscription | $25/box | 6 Months paid up front |
| 6-Month Subscription (+Free Toy) | $25/box | Month to Month |
I think there is an annual subscription too, but when I just checked in the middle of January that option had been replaced by the 6-month plan with a free toy. Maybe not enough people were signing up for that option and they’re trying a different tactic, but double check their website if you’re looking for a long-term plan.
The Super Chewer plans work a little bit differently. When I went to the site recently, there was deal for a $15 first box, which is a good price, but you had to sign up for a 6-month or 12-month plan.
| Plan | Cost | Month to Month or Paid Up Front |
| Monthly | $39/ box | Month to Month |
| 6-Month | $34/ box | 6 months paid up front |
| 12-Month | $29/ box | 12 months paid up front |
Is BarkBox Worth It?
Yes, with a big caveat. If you buy a lot of toys and treats for your dog every month, then yes. BarkBox is definitely worth it. However, if you’re like us and only buy a toy a month, it’s not. It was cool to see Lucy react every time the box came, as she could smell right away it was for her, but it’s just too expensive, especially for the Super Chewer package.
In fact, some of the weighted rubber toys Lucy couldn’t even pick up because they were so heavy. And then when Mike’s brother, Rich, brought his silver lab over, he destroyed one of them in only a couple minutes. The problem was that it broke apart into small, easily-swallowed pieces. Not the best.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth your money, but we did two boxes and wanted no part of a third. We might go back and try the regular box that comes with two toys every month. But based on the looks of them, they won’t last a day with Lucy the destructor.
How Long Do the BarkBox Toys Last?
We signed up for the Super Chewer, which offers a toy replacement if they’re ever destroyed. The “Scout’s Honor” at the bottom of the website says:
BarkBox website
“If any toy is destroyed, we’ll send a new one 100% FREE of charge. No proof needed. No time limits. No questions asked.”
That’s a pretty bold statement, though the rubber toys we received from the Super Chewer plan were pretty indestructible for a dog Lucy’s size. But my brother’s lab had no trouble destroying them. Even Lucy, all 25 pounds of muscle, finished the chew toys or chew sticks in less than a half hour, and that might be generous.
By the looks of the regular BarkBox toys, they wouldn’t last an hour with Lucy. They’re too fluffy and don’t seem built to last. But we haven’t tried it so I can’t speak for certain.
What Comes in a BarkBox?
According to their website, every BarkBox has:
- At least 2 innovative toys
- 2 all-natural bags of treats
- 1 chew
All of these items are based around a unique theme every month. Some of the monthly themes include:
- The Knights of the Hound Table
- Chewrassic Bark
- The Good, the Bad, and the Pugly
- Throwbark Thursday
- New York City
For instance, the New York City theme toy options include a stuffed pigeon, a stuffed slice of pizza, and a stuffed head of the Statue of Liberty.
The Super Chewer plan, like mentioned above, consists of:
- 2 Tough toys
- 2 Full-size bags of treats
- 2 Meaty chews
Would We Get BarkBox Again?
No, we wouldn’t. That’s not to say it’s not right for you and your dog, there’s just a couple specific reasons why it doesn’t work for us.
- The Super Chewer toys were too heavy. Lucy is a small dog that packs a punch and is all muscle, but the toys weren’t right for her size.
- We don’t give Lucy a lot of toys. We give her raw hides and treats while training. We don’t have a need to spend money every month on toys.
- We want more bang for our buck. This is the biggest reason. We don’t spend money on things like this. Plus, we get an all-natural rawhide delivered every couple months with Lucy’s food through Chewy and we’ll pick up others randomly. Besides that, we don’t spend too much money on her. If we spent more on toys, or maybe if we had two pups, we’d have stuck with this subscription longer.
However, Lucy loved these boxes. LOVED them. She could smell that it was for her right away and wouldn’t leave the box’s side until it was opened. She loved every one of the bags of treats and the chews. If their goal is to make the dog happy, BarkBox definitely succeeds. So, if you give your dog lots of treats, then BarkBox is at least worth a trial to see if it’s right for you.
Overall Just Married Life Grade of BarkBox: 5
Try BarkBox Today!
Have you been considering BarkBox for your pooch? Give it a whirl, as there are plenty of options to choose from.
If you have tried BarkBox, throw a comment below to share what you thought. We might even feature in an upcoming article! And, if you don’t think BarkBox is for you, we have a review of Chewy.com coming soon.
