Fire Power Super Soaking Fire Hose Back Pack

Product Information

It’s a tad too large to play fetch with. And while it may be tempting, if you use it as a tug toy, it’s going to tear. You see, the ends where your dog bites down are where the stitching is. Because of its larger size, we found our dogs were less likely to chew on the seams at either end of the fire hose, instead chomping on the most durable area, the red fire hose. Even so, I’d keep an eye on your pooch and remove the toy if he works on the stitching. I would also add that fire hose toys are not suitable for puppies. Their small teeth can puncture between the fibers, easily shredding the material. Adult teeth, on the other hand, were unable to chomp their way through. Even so, that doesn’t mean that fire hose is designed for power chewers. Fire hose toys worked best when given under supervision. While these toys held up just fine to gentle games of tug and fetch, they are not chew toys.

But while the squeaker inside may have busted, the outer surface held strong. After countless games of fetch, the red firehose material didn’t show any signs of wear. In fact, it makes for a great indoor fetch toy – it’s soft enough that you won’t break a window if your aim is off. Katie’s Bumpers makes a wide variety of different fire hose toys. Their Firehouse Sqwuggie not only shares the same name as the Kong but looked and performed equally. Unfortunately in this case, it wasn’t a good thing. Despite being able to fend off the weather, I still recommend fire hose dog toys for inside play. Not only will they last longer, but their soft design means you are less likely to break a window if your aim is off.

Required Cookies & Technologies

It is for this reason that fire hose should only be used for gentle games of tug with less powerful breeds, such as a Boston Terrier. If playtime turns rough, remove the toy! Remember how I told you that I lost one of the fire hose toys in a snowstorm? This was the one. Once the snow melted, it looked a little brown and faded but was still perfectly functional. As far as a soft weather-proof toy goes, this is as good as it gets. While a few brands use recycled fire hose, most use new fire hose dyed in vibrant colors. Some go a step further and paint the surface or sew multiple pieces of fire hose together so that it resembles an animal.

Looking for something a little bigger? ZippyPaws has you covered with their oversized fire hose toy, the Firehose Blaster. At a whopping 27 inches long, it’s only suitable for medium-sized dogs and larger. Despite our Pomeranian’s best attempt to play with the toy, it proved to be too large for her to carry around, and she resorted to gnawing on it instead – not the behavior we want to encourage. Now, it is worth mentioning that there are two-handled fire hose tug toys. You grab either end and your dog clamps down on the actual fire hose. While these are more durable, I found the double-gripped design more awkward to use than those held with a single fist. You often hear that fire hose dog toys are a heavy-duty alternative to a plush toy. Based on my testing, I would say this is true. As a material, fire hose is considerably more durable than the polyester fabric you find on your standard plush toy. This extra-large fire hose toy contains three squeakers. Surprisingly, our Golden Retriever was only able to puncture a single squeaker over the course of testing. Interestingly, the squeaker that was punctured still gives off a squeaking sound, just not as loud as the others. Even so, it still squeaked loud enough to keep our pups entertained. That’s not to say fire hose dog toys are bad. But they certainly don’t hold up to their reputation of being unbreakable. If you wouldn’t trust your dog with a plush toy, then a fire hose toy isn’t right for your dog.

Numerous reviewers state that they took their Frisbee to a tailor to have them re-stitched when the seams came undone. While the Frequent Flyer held up just fine during testing, I can see the benefit of double stitching it for extra durability. But if your dog doesn’t chew or you are looking for a slightly more durable alternative to a plush toy, one that is used under supervision, then there is a lot to love about fire hose toys. The best fire hose dog toys Yep, it’s the same fire hose that firefighters attach to hydrants when they put out a fire. Given that a fire hose is designed to withstand pressure of higher than 1,600 PSI before it bursts, it should be more than up to the task of your rough dog, right? [ 1] Outward Hound also makes their Fire Biterz in a variety of other styles. We tested the Toucan, Boobie and Flamingo. The edges are boarded and stitched with an extra piece of material that was more tearable than the fire hose material in the middle of the toys – likely because of the seams. Another benefit of the frequent flyer is that it’s easy to fold up and stuff in the bottom of your bag. The light-weight design is barely noticeable as you tote it around. While the flat design makes it difficult to see when your dog is in the water, it does float.

I can tell you that the tightly woven material that makes up fire hose toys is surprisingly resistant to wear. Even the powerful jaws of a Labrador were unable to puncture the surface. Don’t get me wrong… It certainly looks worse for wear, faded and dirty. But once I hosed it down and dried it out, it held up just fine for games of fetch. In comparison, a plush toy would be basically unusable. Let’s face it, there isn’t a lot to fire hose dog toys. Most of them are little more than fire hose material and a couple of stitches.

Help rescue the abandoned dogs of Puerto Rico!

But of the fire hose tug toys we tested, Ray Allen was the clear winner. Not only were they available in the widest range of sizes but were also one of the only fire hose tugs not to tear during our testing. Oh, and they don’t contain squeakers. Because of the tubular shape, your dog will bite down on the weakest point of the toy – the edge with the stitching. Aggressive tugging soon causes the stitching to split. In fact, our German Shepherd tugged so hard the handle tore right off one of the fire hose toys we tested. The seams, however, are another story. This was the weak point of all the fire hose toys we tested. This is unfortunate as the edges of the fire hose that are sewn shut are exactly where most of our dogs focused their attention. This was a particular problem with the more elaborate animal designs, which had more seams and stitching than the traditional tube-like fire hose toy. Part of what makes this fire hose dog toy so affordable is its simplicity. It’s a short length of fire hose with a squeaker and some stuffing stitched inside. That’s it. No handles, even its design is quite plain compared to other fire hose toys available. It was a long journey, with plenty of chasing, tugging and biting. But after 90+ hours of testing, we narrowed down the competition to 4 winners, each unique in their own way.