It came in a ginormous box and was all wrapped up in some really crinkly paper. Mom ended up having to get the scissors to open the thing.

Here I am inspecting the basket to see what surprises are in store.

I got a really big selection of the Mutt Puppets. Mom is holding it. These are cool toys with no stuffing (we all know that’s a good toy for me). Don’t worry Buttons they do have squeakers! This one I am sniffing is the Original Mutt. If you see the head off in a future picture, no worries because it is detachable. It is attached to the body with velcro! Read further down to find out about another surprise.

There were also two of these cool Mutt Nutts. They are two silly plush non-stuffed heads attached with a durable cotton rope. They have squeakers and treat pouches! There were also several Mini-Mutt toys – also with no stuffing, squeakers, great rope and treat pouch. It’s like the mother lode of toy – all my favorite things. They seem to be very well made and sturdy which is essential for the Yoda toy seal of approval.

There was more though. A grooming comb and lots of treats.

The basket had an Ol’ Roy Munchy Bone which I was attracted to right away. I even took it out of the wrapper.

After I rescued the Munchy Bone from the wrapper, I proceeded to enjoy it!

This Original Mutt had a really cool surprise – a chew toy bone inside! Mom thought I had chewed a hole in my new toy but then she discovered it was a pouch to hide the bone in. Everyone will be happy to know I rescued the bone and ate it. The Mutt is still in great shape!

Disclaimer: Mom bought the Mutt Puppet basket on ebay as part of the Linda Blair World Heart fundraising event. She paid for it but less than the stated retail value. We were a DJ for the event but received no money or gratuity for supporting the event or the companies that supported the event. We do, however, believe in and support the Linda Blair World Heart Foundation and appreciate all of the folks that help support it and the #Lub2Rock fundraising events.

And now, let’s get on with the Saturday Blog Hop! I missed it last week because mom was at Bark World.

-Barking Out Loud … Yoda’s Blog ——> check us out!

This is Goose, our four-year old Shelty mix. During the four years that she’s been a member of our family, she’s become an integral part of just about all that we’re involved in, including going on vacation.

Every year we pack up our boat (aka the suitcase) and head north to Weslemkoon Lake (northern Ontario, Canada) for two weeks of sun, fun and fishing. Including this year, Goose has made the journey three of the four years she’s been with us. We were forced to skip one year when the gas prices skyrocketed… a real downer for sure.

Once we’re at the lake, Goose has complete access to the water and takes every opportunity to enjoy it. In the morning we have coffee, Goose takes a swim, followed by at least one for lunch and one for dinner. If we’re anywhere near the water, Goose is in it. She loves every minute of being at the lake. She also loves to take boat rides.

The first year she came with us, we were heading across the lake to visit friends when we had to cross another boat’s wake. Never having taken a dog to the lake before, none of us realized how easily she could get bucked out. That’s exactly what happened. Nothing serious, we bounced a little from the wake and she went over the side. I quickly cut the motor then circled around to pluck her out.

This happened again last year when she was moving from one person to the other. With my boat being a bass boat the side walls aren’t very high. The side walls may be 8” high on the bow which is were my daughter and Goose usually sit on rides.

This spring, we decided that since Goose loves boating so much and is prone to flipping out, we should have a life jacket for her. We were lucky in the respect that when she had fallen out prior, no other boats were around or I could quickly circle back for her. But we knew that that couldn’t always be the case.

So after some research, we purchased a jacket by Outward Hound. It fit perfectly, was high quality and was well worth the invest, something we would find out very soon.

This year like others, we decided to try some afternoon fishing, stopping along the way to have a picnic lunch.

On this particular day, the weather was almost perfect. There was a light breeze blowing, beautiful sky and warm temperatures. With the breeze blowing, there was a slight chop on the water, nothing to be concerned about… we’ve dealt with far, far worse.

There are a series of coves along the shore not far from our cottage – prime fishing spots that were aching to be fished. I had decided on one particular cove and headed there.

To set the stage, if you were in my boat and looking over the bow, you would see an island on the right and a large marked bolder in the water to the left. Between the two, at least 50 yards of open water. I throttled up and headed in to shoot the gap.

Little did I realize that there was another huge bolder lurking just at the surface of the water directly in my path. With the small waves on the water, what little showed of the bolder, became invisible.

We hit the bolder with enough force to summersault both my daughter and Goose over the bow and into the water. My wife and I were thrown forward but remained in the boat.

The kill switch immediately stopped the motor and I quickly looked to see where everyone was.

My daughter and Goose had already surface by the time I turned around to look, they both looked pretty dazed though. Once we were all able to get to shore, we surveyed the damages.

My wife had banged up her knees and left leg, not too serious, although they looked really bad. Our daughter got it bad and unfortunately flew into the shaft of the trolling motor, that in the stowed position, goes perpendicular across the bow bruising her arm very deeply. Luckily though, this shaft has some flex to it or her arm would have surely been broken in at least two places.

Goose got the worst of it. We’re not sure if she too hit the trolling motor shaft and cut her side open on the height adjustment knob, or actually got cut by the dinged propeller or skeg of the motor as we drifted past her.

At any rate she needed stitches, 14 to be exact. Whatever it was that cut her, got just under the edge of her lifejacket. But like I said, she was a bit loopy when I first saw her and the jacket could have very well saved her life by keeping her above water until we were able to get to her.

We rushed to the local vet (not really local, about and hour away) and he stitched her up and put her on the road to recovery. Thank you Dr. Singh and entire staff of the Faraday Animal Hospital in Bancroft, Ontario, Canada and Outward Hound for such a great life jacket.

I’m happy to say that by vacation’s end, we had all pretty well recovered. Some bruises still remain, Goose no longer has stitches, just the cute little bald spot. We were very, very lucky. We could have easily been one of “those” stories you hear about on the lake.

Lesson learned: Put the life jacket on your dog… always!

Even though this was our 15th year at the lake, there are still many things I don’t know about it. I do however know where that bolder is… and it now has a marker on it.

Joe & the Goose

Come visit with us and check out more than 250 wines will be on display this weekend at the Hudson Wine Festival, which helps to raise money for the Humane Society of Greater Akron.

It has been a pleasure watching Lebron James play basketball the past 7 years. Unfortunately he’s gone. Not sure if I understand the reasons behind leaving if you were truly committed to winning a championship in Cleveland. Past two years best record in the NBA, & NBA MVP. It’s just weird … cause Jordan never quit on the Bulls and joined the Pistons to get over the hump. Is it King Wade & Lebron Pippen show in Miami?

Anyways, MuttPuppet wishes you much health & happiness.

DAWG POUND SPECIAL! SAVE 20% USING COUPON CODE: frontrunner

I'm stuffing free!

Oh boy! It’s a MuttPuppet!

Front of toy - notice that the arms are also built in fun rope toy pulls!

Back of toy with "bonus" rawhide chew in rear pocket (you can always surprise your dog and place a healthy dog biscuit in the pocket, your dog will be thrilled!)

This plush dog toy product itself without the rawhide bonus treat gets Koa’s paw of approval and mine too! Thanks MuttPuppets for allowing us to personally test out your wonderful concept, we hope dogs everywhere get their very own MuttPuppet’s soon!

I’ll be totally honest. Until about 2 months ago, I didn’t know MuttPuppet Dog Toys existed.

How did I find ‘em?

Their logo. Seriously. I saw their logo online and it immediately drew me in. It was funky, offbeat…with just a touch of quirk. I needed to learn more about this wackadoo cross-eyed, buck-toothed fuzzy head staring back at me. So I clicked through. Lesson learned: never underestimate the power of an awesome logo.

The logo is perfect, actually. It’s the spitting image of the toy – anytime you see the MuttPuppet logo, you’ll think of the product. Pretty smart.

Having two toy-crazed Kerry Blues, I promptly ordered a couple of MuttPuppets.

The toys arrived a few days later. And the branding story continued. MuttPuppet doesn’t have a custom-designed box, so what they did do? Instead of leaving the generic Priority Mail box unbranded, they stickered it with their logo and tagline. Cool. I knew exactly what was inside and that the MuttPuppet fun was about to begin.

What MuttPuppet gets (which I wish other brands would get) is that you need to embrace your brand essence EVERYWHERE. If your product is fun, cool or whimsical, then be fun, cool or whimsical at all touchpoints…from the logo, to online, to packaging, to print and so forth. A good brand voice isn’t selective about when to share its personality. A good brand voice is always out there for the world to see, enjoy…and remember. (Works wonders for building consistent messaging, too.)

Okay…so on to more important things. What’s the verdict on MuttPuppets?

Well, the Kerries give ‘em an enthusiastic four paws up.

Another product attribute: the Original MuttPuppet can be separated into two toys (the head is attached to the body via Velcro®). Fiona especially liked this. She’s been carrying the head everywhere she goes. Perfectly sized for fetch, too.

And Finnegan? Well, he has a product suggestion: create the Mac Daddy of MuttPuppets – the Mega Mutt. A MuttPuppet of ginormous proportions.

Until then, Finn will continue to be his toy-greedy self, trying to scoop up and carry all the MuttPuppets at once. Visit EHL Creative