My dog is not a fan of bodies of water, whether they’re the size of a bathtub or the Pacific. There are days when I will watch those Corgis on YouTube leaping off piers and bellyflopping into lakes or oceans with envy. But then I think about how their people must have to deep-clean the back seats of their cars to get the smell of wet dog out.
Not that Mr. Moxie is the patron saint of cleanliness. While he refuses to dip a toe into the ocean, he is a huge fan of stink and sea life — two things that are readily available on any given shoreline. A few weeks ago he encountered (much to his delight) a dead seagull in the sand, and he did what any self-respecting dog would do. He ROLLED in it.
I want to change my dog’s name from Moxie to Temerity when he pulls a stunt like this. As the Dogster editor’s only fur kid, he has everything a dog could ask for and then some. More toys come in the mail for him to maul than he has time to play with, and right now we have treat samples piled atop the refrigerator that will probably last through August. But he’s not thinking about all that when he spies a seagull carcass on Ocean Beach.
A few days after I’d scrubbed the stench off the dog, my friend Phuong who does marketing for P.L.A.Y. SF, one of my favorite pet brands, emailed to say she wanted to send Mox their latest toy collection. The theme, just in time for the summer months, was “under the sea.” (And it appears to be pretty popular; a recent visit to P.L.A.Y.’s website showed that most of the sea critters are sold out. Phuong tells me they are on backorder through June 15.)
Mox and I were pretty excited when the collection came in the mail. It includes five hand-sewn sea creatures: a king crab, giant clam, giant squid, green sea turtle and a starfish. The squid was an instant hit with Moxie, who wasted no time snatching it out of my brother’s hands and dragging it off to his lair (as evidenced by the video below). It’s our new favorite thing.
I asked Phuong if we could give one of our Dogster readers the chance to win the sea creature collection (a $54 value), and she graciously agreed — so, welcome to the giveaway portion of this post!
Why You Want to Win:
+ P.L.A.Y. is all about quality: these are handmade toys, with a double layer exterior and inverse cross-stitched joints for extra durability.
+ Like the rest of P.L.A.Y.’s products, they are eco-friendly, and stuffed with dog-safe PlanetFill filler (which is spun from recycled plastic bottles).
+ You can throw them in the washing machine without trouble.
+ They are ridiculously cute! And 2 percent of each sale goes to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) “to aid in its mission to reduce the commercial exploitation of animals, protect wildlife habitats, and assist animals in distress.”
How to Win the Under the Sea Plush Toys for Your Pup:
To enter, “like” the P.L.A.Y. facebook page, and then leave us a comment below telling us about the absolute GROSSEST thing your dog has ever done. (Don’t worry, it will take a LOT to gross us out. This is Dogster! We won’t judge.)
I will pick my favorite answer next Wednesday, June 12, at noon PST and our friends at P.L.A.Y. will contact the winner via email. You’ll have two days to respond or I’ll choose another winner. (Sorry, that’s just how it goes!)
Creating a Disqus profile and avatar just takes a minute and is a great way to participate in Dogster’s community of people who are passionate about dogs. Please note that if your Disqus account doesn’t contain a valid email address, you can’t win because we won’t be able to contact you. That’s not fun! So, pretty please, check your account.
Best of luck!
P.S. I almost forgot. P.L.A.Y. is celebrating World Oceans Day on June 8th and will be running a 15% off promo for the toys that day. If it’s of interest, use the promo code OCEANDAY13 on June 8 for a discount on the sea creature toys.
