I know a bunch of you out there are just as dog-obsessed as I am and this is just one of the many reasons I think you guys are the jam. Dogs are the BEST and I never could have imagined just how much joy and laughter Sadie would bring into my life everyday when Ryan and I first picked up our timid little puppy. (Timid? Oh how times have changed.)
When BarkBox reached out to me to see if my crazy dog would want to try out one of their boxes, I thought it would be a neat way to indulge Sadie a bit with some new treats and toys. Sadie is the kind of dog that basically pees herself over a brand new stick, so I could only imagine how thrilled she would be if she got a package in the mail filled with new treats and toys just for her.
So what is BarkBox?
BarkBox is a monthly box filled with treats, toys and goodies for your dog that is delivered right to your door. Each box contains four to six full-size products, with goodies ranging from creative toys and gadgets to all-natural, healthy treats and more.
Any edible products found in a BarkBox do not include formaldehyde and are made with minimal processing, no glycerin whenever possible, organic ingredients whenever possible and are gluten, soy, corn and filler-free whenever possible. Subscribers can also opt for an allergy-friendly BarkBox for dogs that may be sensitive to beef, chicken, turkey, gluten, wheat, soy and corn. (Users will just need to email support@barkbox.com once they’ve purchased their subscription to get added to the allergy box list.)
The toys and treats are almost always sourced from small local vendors that are not easily found in major pet stores and plans tailored to your dog’s size start as low as $18/month.
Sadie’s first BarkBox included the following goodies:
- Barkworthies Junior Bully Sticks
- Harry Barket Tug n’ Toss Toy
- Complete Natural Nutrition Cheese Please Snacks
- Baker’s Best Salmon Maple Glaze Treats
Her favorite treat was definitely the Cheese Please snacks!
She gave me the pitiful puppy eyes the minute she caught a whiff after I opened the bag!
The sole ingredient in the treat is cheese, so I knew Sadie would flip for the cheesy little discs when I opened the package. (She’s a cheese lover just like her mama.)
She also had a blast playing with the Tug n’ Toss toy and threw it all around our apartment trying to entice us into a game of tug of war. (It totally worked because we are suckers.)
The treat I wasn’t sure Sadie would like in the box was the Baker’s Best salmon maple teats because at first glance they looked like biscuits. Sadie doesn’t like biscuits and typically gravitates toward meat and cheese-based treats, so I didn’t think the salmon treats would go over well, but she flipped for them!!
She couldn’t get enough!
Now it’s time for a giveaway!
One PBF reader will win a free six-month subscription to BarkBox!
To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment below answering one (or both) of the following questions:
- What was the first trick you taught your dog?
- What is one trick your dog could never quite master?
I will randomly select a giveaway winner on Friday morning. Please note that this giveaway is open to readers in the US and Canada only. You must have a US or Canada shipping address to receive a BarkBox. If you would like to try BarkBox for your pup, BarkBox is also offering 10 percent off to all PBF readers if you click this link. (The coupon will automatically apply at checkout.)
Good luck!!!
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Disclaimer: While this post is sponsored by BarkBox, the links included within the post are not affiliate links and I am not earning commission or credit from any boxes purchased.
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Our pup Amber seemed to pick up shake on her own randomly recently! We are working on several different manners still, since she is only 6 months! Think she would love the BarkBox!
We taught our jack Russell how to sit first. We tried the “speak” command, but he’s never gotten it!
When we adopted our dog (she is our third, but only one still with us), she was an adult, so had learned most of the basic commands already. We did teach her to stay out of the kitchen, since that is something we have always done since our first dog (when we lived in an apartment with an itty bitty kitchen). She pushes her limits now and again, but she is so smart and knows what she is doing!!
Entering for my parents’ dog since she goes through toys crazy fast 😀
What was the first trick you taught your dog? sit 🙂
What is one trick your dog could never quite master? not really a trick, but none of our dogs could heel. They were all terrible on a leash 😀
shortly after we rescued our dog from the local shelter, we taught Brandy to sit and stay. she impressed us how quickly she picked it up so we tried to teach her other tricks such as rolling over, but she never got past sit & stay. what a stubborn pup!
I have a very active German Sheppard mix named Ryley. Aside from the usual “sit”, “stay”, & “beg” commands the first “real” trick I taught him was “jump” we found that he was able clear a 4ft fence in one leap quite easy so we decided to teach him how to jump through hoops. The one trick he has not been able to master is Frisbee catching, he’ll run to it then let it hit the ground before he picks it up 🙂
The first trick for my Yorkie was getting her to sit with a treat in hand!
I have a yellow lab and got her at 9 weeks old. The first trick I taught her was to “high five”, which she mastered right away. She is 5 now and still has trouble with “lie down’.
I LOVE this giveaway, my little Pixie would love it 🙂 We taught our dog to sit, that’s about it haha.
My dog has barely mastered the art of sitting BUT I still reward him because he tries so hard just can’t get it.
Our dog, Jack is a mix between Benji and the dog from How the Grinch Stole Christmas 🙂 I’m obsessed! He is so smart and learned to sit and shake pretty quickly as a puppy… the coolest trick he does is (what we call) a high five. He gets so excited.
The trick that he CAN master and chooses not to…. unless it’s his favorite treat… is to roll over. He can do it, but doesn’t like to unless he is on carpet. Such a princess. So, what he does is simply sit his behind down and spin and he assumes that counts. 🙂
The first trick I taught my chocolate lab was to sit, which she is great at! But she struggles with the handshake trick
The first trick I taught my adorable pup was to roll over. My sweet Sullie and I spent weeks mastering this trick. Naturally I googled “how to teach your dog to roll over.” We purchased a “clicker” and many dog treats. Whenever she successfully rolled over she’d hear a “click” and was immediately given a treat and much praise! The entire process was so much fun and rewarding! I could go on and on about this experience but I’ll spare you my gushing!
As far as my dog not mastering a trick… although this is hardly a trick..my dog has yet to master taking walks with me. She gets super excited when she sees the leash and to wander out and experience what lies beyond the back yard. Unfortunately at any given moment my dog will decide she’s done walking and just sit or lie down wherever we are! Sometimes we are 2 minutes away or a couple miles away! I often find myself carrying her home..my 30- plus pound vizsla! She is not a light dog! Spoiled much?! At least it’s a great workout!
Barkbox…wow..what an amazing way to treat my pup! I can see this being an excellent gift for our friends dogs birthday and even the holidays! Thank you for sharing!
One of the first tricks we got our pup, Dixon, to do was a high-five.
He’s five now and still won’t come when called to the backdoor when he needs to come in. He would live outside if he could!
Our big (yellow) dog Clifford is a freak for any package/bag that arrives home – no matter what, he always thinks it is for him!
The first night we brought him home, he fetched. That boy is 100 percent lab. The first actual trick we taught him though was sit! However, we cannot get him to roll over! We have tried SO many times in so many ways, but he refuses to even roll over onto his back.. such a goof!
We adopted our dog Bella so when we got her she already knew the basics such as “sit”, “down”, “stay”, etc. The first trick we taught her was to play dead. I point my fingers at her as if I’m holding a gun and say “Bang Bang!” and she lays down and flops over on her back and I give her a treat.
We were never able to master the roll over trick. She will lay down onto her back but can’t just seem to master the whole rolling to the other side part.
We can absolutely not teach our pup Sailor how to roll-over. He is completely incompetent on his back and flails about like a turtle, hence he is not very keen on practice!
My wife’s dog Mr. Flipper would love some new treats and toys!
The first trick I taught my toy aussie was ‘sit’. He never quite got ‘roll over’ down.
We just got a baby beagle, Luna, shes four months old and loves new toys!! She has already mastered sit and we are working on play dead…but that’s hard for a crazy puppy! I’m sure she will love a new box of treats every month!
Oh how Cooper would love this giveaway! The first trick that I taught Cooper was sit/laydown/stay until I say, “OK”. A trick that I wish I tried to teach him but he could never get was rollover. He always got really nervous, I think he thought he would get stuck on his back, haha.
Fairly recently we rescued a 75 pound dog masquerading as a giant white poofball. Collins is actually a Great Pyrenees/English sheepdog mix but he is normally referred to as a polar bear. The first actual trick we taught him was lay still with his head in your lap…..because we need to trim his “bangs” so often or that shaggy sheepdog hair obscures his mediocre vision. Unfortunately he still has not mastered “wait”. He just sits down with a very disparaging “you crazy” type look.
My 10 month old Goldendoddle, Chebacca’s (Chewy) first trick we taught him was to sit. He is a ball of energy and getting him to sit and be calm for even a moment in time was huge!! He has since mastered many other tricks but one he just cannot seem to get is roll over. He will go half way and then stop and want his treat. He just can’t seem to make that full turn! He is best, even if rolling is not his thing!
So excited for this giveaway! The first trick I taught my dog was roll over which took a long time to learn 🙂
We taught our GSP, Hank, to shake first. He caught on pretty quickly – now he’ll do just about anything as long as there is a treat involved 🙂
When I first got my puppy I taught him how to “shake.” He is still very young but I cannot get him to roll over! He would love monthly mail 🙂
When I adopted my pup (he’s a pomeranian/shiba inu mix and I’m really obsessed with him, my blog will continue to show that haha) he was about 1 year old, so he already had “sit” down…so I taught him a variation of “shake”. His name is JJ (after the Texans football player JJ Watt) and JJ Watt is known for his insane skill of sacking quaterbacks and deflecting passes; one of his signature moves after a great play is to salute. So the first trick JJ (my pup) learned was to raise his paw [aka as much of a salute as a dog can do lol] whenever I ask “JJ, can you sack?” He still hasn’t quite mastered “staying”….he just gets too excited for life and all the amaaazing things around him!
My dog Luna is half black lab and half husky. As you can imagine, she is incredibly energetic (like Sadie!). The first real trick we mastered was shake, which evolved into “high five”. One we can’t quite master is “roll over” – she is way too wiggly and excited! However, maybe if we had some new treats from BarkBox we could finally master it! 🙂
1. Shake a paw
2. Not begging from the table!
The first trick I taught my dog (a vizsla) was to sit. One trick he never got/I didn’t teach him was how to shake. Truthfully, it kinda annoys me.
the first trick i taught my dog, Rocky, was a high five, then the high ten (that’s his favorite). The one trick he hasn’t quite mastered is to roll over, we are still working on it though!!
My mutt, Frank, is really good at “sit!” and “lay down!” but never could get “shake” — he just looks at me like I’m crazy when I grab his paw!
We just got a new puppy! She’s a red Doberman named Rosie. I’d love to get a 6 month Bark Box Subscription for the both of them — she’ll be growing fast in the next six months.
This is a great idea! I have a 4 month old golden retriever puppy. He has many tricks to learn. He’s got fetching and flipping over for a belly rub down, but can’t quite figure out paw yet.
My sweet Briar (a vizsla) is one energetic puppy! The first tricks I taught him were sit, lay down, shake, etc. My favorite tricks that I do with Briar are high fives and hugs! Briar has never quite mastered rolling over. He hates to be on his back unless he’s getting a belly scratch. I’ve been wanting to try the Bark Box for awhile and I know Briar would LOVE to try it out even more!
The first trick Ruby learned was sit. She’s got that one mastered, but roll over is still a work in progress. At this point, roll over is more of “flop dramatically on side.”
Our Yorkipoo seemed to be born trained. And fetch was probably her first trick to teach us! lol…but I can never seem to teach her to roll-over. She does not like that one bit. Everything else comes so easy for her! She is my first fur baby and I always smile when seeing her little ponytail ears perk up when I ask her if she wants a walkie. I have wanted to try Barkbox and didn’t realize they have an allergy-friendly option!
I have always wanted to try bark box! We got our dog, Buster, from a foster home so he was already potty trained and could sit, shake, and lay down. This first trick we taught him was to roll over. The trick that he has never totally mastered is taking treats gentlely…he loves his treats!!!
The first trick I taught both of my dogs was sit and stay. They both figured it out pretty quick but to this day will only “perform” if I have a treat in my hand, otherwise forget it!
My dog, Maggie, is a 45 lb chocolate lab and is EXTREMELY smart. I swear she is a regular person! The first trick she mastered was “paw” then “other paw”. She has realized that other paw means switching! One thing that I find particularly funny is her realization of the phrase “want to go for a run?”…at 5:00am every morning she runs around in circles until I lace up my shoes to take her. She LOVES it and smiles the whole way!
Sit was the first trick we taught Chipper, one he never quite mastered…Stay! Haha he is much like Sadie in that if we are around he wants to be licking/pawing/touching/laying on us in some shape or from so I think stay is something he will never quite master (He can high five though!)!
First trick: Sit. I think thats probably what most people do first though. It’s so easy and quick to teach!
Trick she hasn’t mastered: Roll over. For some reason she is very adverse to laying on her side or back and fights it when I try to manipulate her into doing it. I think it makes her very uncomfortable for some reason. She doesn’t roll over for belly rubs like most dogs do either. It’s not a necessary trick so I’ve never forced the issue.
And for fun, my favorite tricks: Spin-she spins in a circle on command and Leave it-she leaves treats on command until her release word of “ok”. I can pile treats around her in a circle, on her paws, etc. and she doesn’t break until she hears “ok”! It’s so impressive!
The first “trick” would be balancing treats on her nose, flipping them off and catching them in her mouth. Her eyes get so focus on her nose when she does this. Too cute! However, we simply cannot master rolling over. She gets onto her back and starts scratching her back and playing. The bark boxes are such a cute idea!
What a great idea!! I’d love to have this for our dog Emma! First trick I taught Emma was to sit and shake a paw! She’s a HUGE dog (Great Pyrenees/husky/border collie mix), so she never quite mastered rolling over. It ends up looking more like she’s playing dead:) Love my girl!
My cousin has this for his dog and loves it! The first trick I taught my dog Nacho was sit, that one was pretty easy. 🙂
I taught him “down” and then went into “roll over”…over the years when we try to get him to do “down” he just constantly rolls over until we cant stop laughing and absolutely HAVE to give him a treat, hahaha. oh well, roll over is the more fun one anyways right!
I have 2 weimaraners (cousins to the vizsla!) and we first taught them to sit. To this day they have not mastered the trick of how to stop barking every time they hear the tiniest noise 🙂
Calli’s first trick was “sit”. At least she’s (somewhat) obedient!
The first trick that I taught my Daisy was to go to bed. This worked out well when she was a puppy to get her to go in her crate at night. Seven years later she knows go to bed as go to our bedroom for the night. The one trick that she has never mastered and I blame this on being hard headed is to bring the ball back. She will run after it but the game of chase is something she likes better than giving it back.
The first trick we taught our dog, Zoe, was to sit. We figured, start with the easiest and work our way up to harder ones! The trick Zoe never quite mastered is roll over. She is a Brittney Spaniel/GSP mix and quite leggy! When she tries to roll over her legs get caught in the air and she can never quite make it!
Our vizsla, Finn, is the best running buddy a girl could ask for. So… the first trick I taught him was to retrieve his leash when I lace up my running shoes.
I have a golden/collie mix who already knew basic commands when I adopted her, and her first major trick she learned was how to play ‘pat-a-cake’ (switching paws and everything!). She hasn’t quite mastered how to hold multiple treats on her nose yet and wait to eat them (she keeps looking up or down to see them, which causes them to fall off!), but we’re working on it! We also have a cairn terrier mix who is really, really sweet, but has a hard time learning new tricks! She does know how to sit, stay and roll over though! She hates people touching her paws though, so I don’t know if we’ll ever get to any more advanced tricks!
I have 2 dogs, Dakota who is a lab/dalmatian/golden mix (looks just like a black lab with some white spots on her chest, and Charlie who is a Shetland Sheepdog. Shelties are supposed to be very smart, which he is, but he will only sit and give puppy kisses. He will not shake your hand, he refuses. Dakota on the other hand can learn a new trick in a few minutes she is so smart and just wants to please you. She knows how to sit, shake, hi-five, lay down, spin, roll over and army crawl.