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BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon – December 2015

Ragan Buckley
ByRagan BuckleyDec 27, 2015 | 22 comments

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - box

BarkBox
3.9 overall rating
115 Ratings | 53 Reviews

BarkBox is a subscription box for dogs.  It’s the most popular dog subscription box.  You’ve seen the small dog version, but since they customize based on dog size, we thought you might like to see what you’d get if you have a large dog, so this is a review of the “Big & Bold” box for a 50+ pound dog.  (My dog, Nyx, is a Rottweiler who currently weighs about 82-83 pounds.)

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - inside

Here’s a look inside the box.

The Subscription Box: BarkBox 

The Cost: $29 per month on a month-to-month plan, save with longer subscriptions!

The Products: Toys, treats, and grooming products selected for your dog based on size (choose “Small and Cute” for 0-20 pounds, “Just Right” for 20-50 pounds, and “Big & Bold” for dogs 50+ pounds).

Ships to: US and Canada

Good to Know: BarkBox offers a heavy chewer option.  After you sign up, you can email them to request this.  We were too late this month to get the heavy chewer option for Nyx, but starting in January, you should be able to see the heavy chewer toys.

Check out lots of great boxes for dogs in the Pet Subscription Box Directory!  And see Liz’s and Eric’s reviews of the small dog version of BarkBox here!

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - card2

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - card1

The theme this month was New York, which is the city where BarkBox has its headquarters!  On the other side of the card was a list of the items included this month.

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - toys

BarkMade Pretzel – Value $12

This is a BarkBox exclusive.  Nyx thought it was great.  (More below…)  And there was no stuffing to pull out, which is a big plus.

BarkMade Lady Liberty Ball – Value $12

Your dog would need a pretty big mouth to chew on this.  I appreciate how size-appropriate it was.  It had one of the more durable squeakers of any dog toy we’ve tried out lately. 

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - treats

Butcher’s Block LLC Bully Stick – Value $4

Back before Nyx’s dietary issues, I’d given her a few treats from Butcher’s Block.  They’re made in the USA and she loved them.  (For those of you in the Southeast, I’ve seen a few of their products in the local Publix.)

Nootie Pepperoni Treats (5 oz) – Value $10

These are grain free, which is wonderful.  It looks like they have recently undergone a packaging change, or maybe this is special packaging for this month’s BarkBox?  Nootie brand treats are made in the USA. 

Feel Good Treat Company Pawstrami and Rye (114g) – Value $9 

This value is from the information card since this company doesn’t have its own online shop.  I think these were also made exclusively for BarkBox!  This is a Canadian company and it looks like all their products are made in Canada and sourced from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Italy (so nothing from China).

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - nyx

Obligatory picture of Nyx.  This toy lasted longer than many, and the squeaker kept going long after the toy was damaged.

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - ball

I say in a lot of these reviews that toys don’t last Nyx very long.  I thought I would show some photographic evidence this time.  The piece of the crown that is missing, well, she swallowed.  (Don’t worry.  Stuff like this happens with Nyx a lot.  It always passes through.  She once ate an entire Gentle Leader harness, plastic parts included.)  There were more punctures on the other side.

BarkBox for Large Dogs Subscription Box Review & Coupon December 2015 - pretzel

And here is the pretzel.  The weak points were clearly the stitches holding it into a pretzel shape.  Nyx wanted to play tug with this and you can see what happened.  There was a squeaker in the pretzel, which no longer works.  Also, the cloth on this was pretty tough, she didn’t manage to rip it open at all.  I think toy companies should hire us to find weaknesses in their products…

Verdict: I calculated a value of $47 for the December 2015 BarkBox (large dog version).  This is well over the cost of the subscription, and the toys lasted longer than many others we’ve tried lately, so that’s nice.  I thought they did a good job sticking to a theme, but am kind of wondering if this is an introductory box since the small dog box this month had a completely different theme?

What do you think of the December 2015 BarkBox dog subscription box? Do you subscribe to any dog or cat boxes?

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BarkBox is a monthly delivery of unique toys and all-natural treats and chews—inspired by a new theme, tailored to your dog, and shipped free to your door, every month. Each month’s BarkBox is packed with two unique toys created by our dog-loving designers, two ful... read more.

Ragan Buckley
Ragan Buckley
Ragan stumbled across My Subscription Addiction in late 2013 and immediately subscribed to way too many beauty boxes. She's now focused on boxes for her cats and dog, vegan/vegetarian food boxes, and craft subscriptions (and she didn't give up beauty boxes entirely).

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22 comments

Andrea Wilson

My Dog (120 lbs) pulled the pretzel straight the day we got it but he hasn’t ripped through the fabric as of yet.
The Libetry ball is his favorite toy out of all the boxes. He ripped off the fabric the second day but it still squeaks(June 29,2016) and we got it in December! So this is the longest holding toy and he adores it!

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Valerie

I have two labs who are brothers from the same litter. One loves his plush and cuddles them and carries them around, until his brother gets them and rips them to shreds. If it has a squeaker and stuffing it is gone in minutes. Even Kong didn’t last with him.

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Catydon't

Standard Poodle owner here. All of those toys would be dead within an hour. I’d be willing to try the heavy chewers box for a month or two. The bully stick would work for us, but the others would have to be poultry free as well as the grain free that the one is 🙁
No poodle I’ve ever had (and I’ve had 5 over the last 20 years) can do poultry without scratching themselves to death!
We used to get Awesomebox with the dog option and they gave us a few rubber toys that we still have, but the plush are long gone. We stopped that box cuz the people never played the games as much as the dogs played with the toys!

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Rain

In all the time I’ve looked for toys that can stand up to a heavy chewer I’ve only found a handful of brands/styles of toys. I have to wonder what people expect from a heavy chewer box for dogs? They would be limited to only 5 or so brands of toys. And they are usually very expensive too. I think that might be an impossible goal for a dog box because being inexpensive and having variety is what they do best.

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Anya

What are some of the best toys you’ve found for heavy chewers? Nothing has stood up to the power of the Kong. Just got a new puppy who is a large breed dog and trying to find effective chew toys.

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Rain

Besides the black Kongs, Nylabones made for heavy chewers hold up okay (need to be replaced every couple months) Goughnuts are good but expensive, and Tuffy makes reinforced plush toys that hold up sometimes (depends on the toy and the dog). Buster Cubes have held up well although they aren’t chew toys.

Aimee

My dogs like benebones. They last awhile too. You can find them at barkshop.com or chewy.com

Kristin

I’d be happy with a new tuffy alien ball each month or from the new Kong firehouse made toys
My two killed the liberty but pretzel is still going.
Fish from last summer is still a fave with #keelyandranger

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Bish

I got the Gilt box deal for my pup who can destroy almost any toy. I specified a holiday themed box, but when it came it was more generic. It had two rubber toys in it, and a stuffed pizza slice that held up longer than most stuffed toys. Both rubber toys were design to put treats inside, and two bags of very small treats were included. There was also a slim jim like jerky treat that was a big hit. It was a good box for a bigger dog, but I only get her one every now and then because the treats start piling up and her toy bin is overflowing already. I would get Barkbox again.

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Wendy

I have the big and bold and all my items are different than yours. I have had barkbox since April 2013.

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Ragan

This might have been an intro box. I noticed the small dog box review had holiday/winter themed items in it. We will see next month, I guess.

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Wendy

I have the big and bold and lol my items are different than yours. I have had barkbox since April 2013.

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...

I’d be interested in the heavy chewer option. I don’t like the idea of buying plush toys that will just go into a landfill. I also worry that it would encourage him to chew up pillows or plushies or other cloth items that don’t belong to him.

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Aimee

I have the heavy chewer option. We often receive plush items. I’ve contacted barkbox to complain and they do give me a credit to the barkshop to replace the item. This gets tiresome tho. Lately I’ve been giving the plush to a friend’s dog. There is also usually a more durable toy that my dog is able to enjoy in each box

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rebecca

This is their intro for every size it seems. We have tried them all and got this exact box for each size. My 35 lb dog destroyed these toys in less than 10 minutes, so really the value is not there because those treats are not enough for us to throw down for an expensive subscription service. We gave it several months and it never got better. I really wish there was a pet subscription service that understood big chewers and pets with allergies. Bark box continued to send treats that are known to be bad for pets with allergies. We would receive notices a week after saying….WHOOPS, we are sorry we sent you something that was bad for your dog. We never knew what was safe or wasn’t, so out Barkbox goes.

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Melissa

I can’t say enough about Pooch Party Pack. They customize really nicely and have gone to an insert that just says “This box was customized for your dog” so they don’t have to print a billion different inserts, I guess. The toys they have sent are all still around and we haven’t had any repeats. Not that I would particularly mind.

I’ve cancelled all my other dog boxes but am still running out the rest of my sub with Paw Pack and all those plush toys immediately go up for swap. It takes my half rottie about 10 minutes to destroy a plush toy and strew the stuffing everywhere.

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Aimee

We also subscribe to pooch party pack and we have liked our boxes

Ragan

There are some more ingredient-conscious (for allergy prone dogs) dog boxes in the pipeline, so stay tuned.

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Ann

Wow Nyx is so destructive! I can’t wait to see how she does against the heavy chewer box!

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Ragan

It’s funny to me that Nyx is this destructive. My last dog was also a Rottweiler and she could be trusted — even left alone — with plush toys. She had the same ones for years and years.

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Chantel

I had a Rottweiler and he was so good with plush toys. He would carry them around and just loved them like they were his babies. Now his metal water dish, that’s another story, he would chew and bend that. Ha ha.
Now I have a German Shorthair Pointer and he DESTROYS all toys in 30 seconds flat. If it has stuffing and a squeaker it’s a goner 🙂