Disclosure: This post includes my personal BarkBox Review for which I was not compensated but it may contain affiliate / referral links. Read the full disclosure.

“Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba” (you know it? add it to the comments)

BarkBox‘s April monthly subscription box was all Jungle Love. The theme was Sniffin Safari. Crikey, this theme is so adorable.

To get started with this review, I have to confess to you all that I’m not a huge dog person. I like dogs and I have a dog; our sweet Ruby, I just don’t have those intrinsic reactions to dogs that physically prevent you from speaking in a normal tone and using standard pronunciations.

Ruby and I have had a complicated relationship. When we first adopted her she was so cute, and little, and soft, and playful, and did I mention little? And really, who doesn’t LOVE puppies? Everyone loves puppies.

I’m typically not the person who sees a puppy and has to adopt it. Sure their cute and cuddly and offer unconditional love, but I could resist the temptation. This particular puppy that my hubs-man took our 3 very young humans and myself to see was destined apparently had a life path already created. This was not to be another resist the puppy urge victory of mine.

So basically my options were – 1. say no and wait for hubs-man and tiny humans to give me an early birthday present…a puppy; or 2. say “ok we’ll get the puppy”.

But ohhh my GA Wh HHD; damn she was cute. Like beyond cute with her golden retriever red puppy feathers and dark brown widdle puppy eyes. Ugh! Ok, there was one option.

Unfortunately the weakness for cuteness faded, quickly. It became painfully apparent that I was now mom to 1 large male child, 1 small girl child, two tiny boy childs (I know, but it sounded good) and a K9 child.

I took her out for walks, I made sure she went to the vet and had her vaccines all up to date, I screamed at her when she’d pee in the house or chewed furniture legs, stole food off the counter, or hid slippers. I brushed her and bathed her. I let her out early in the morning and late (in the snow) at night making sure there were no coyotes lurking. I did it all.

And so began the resentment for adding one more child to my brood. I loved our Ruby Doobs, but not the dog.

Ruby’s now almost 11 and has pretty bad arthritis in her lower spine. When she began to slow down in what felt like overnight, I knew something wasn’t right. And it was then that she and I began a brand new special relationship and bond. Maybe because she suddenly looked for me because she wanted me to comfort her, not because she expected me to feed her.

After all, her once-trusty basic survival needs person was now her friend, companion, masseuse, driver, pill giver, and talk to her in a stupid special voice, person.

And the glittery win here…she started to love me MORE than all the others. And that my friends, is a little something I like to call…too f’ing bad.

Anywhoo, this is how our late blooming bond transpired. Now I call her my “old lady” and I get honest to goodness satisfaction out of her loving me most!!! (especially when my kids happen to mention it in front of the husb-man).

Whaaat, don’t judge? I earned this love! Hubs-man gets to earn the kids love by being fun dad…I get the dog.

Anyway, my whole point of this backstory is that I never wanted to spend too much money on what I considered “fluff” for the dog. But now Ruby and I communicate through one glance into each other’s eyes, and we make sure that when one of us leaves a room we wait for the other to catch up, and we lie next to the other while asleep; we’re bonafide good ole fashioned compadres…so I want to give her everything she doesn’t need!

And I’m one lucky dog lover today because BarkBox wants my dog to love me!

When the Sniffin Safari arrived I was so unexpectedly amazed – Ruby (who’s toys up until this point were tennis balls and poached stuffed animals) knew these items were specifically for her. No Joke!!!

Sniffin Safari

How did she know this?

I mean seriously, on any given day I could pick up items around the house and she would never simply because I say her name think whatever was in my hand was for her. How did she know to go all dog cray-cray like she did over these items?

I mean ok, the edible stuff, I get it, they have a visceral smell that she would know indicates good “dog” treat. But the toys???? BarkBox…you really know a dog’s swag!

Slitherin Steve – A cute snake (if that’s not a contradiction in terms) that’s soft and shiny and stuffed with three squeaky doo-ma-hicky things in each the body.

Slitherin Steve

Sawmill Creek Smokehouse Pig Ear Chew –It’s nasty, and exactly as labeled…it’s a dried pig ear (or ears). And it’s a hell-u-va huge ear so I’m going with it’s a warthog. (Note empty package…she did something with it within seconds)

Sawmill Creek Smokehouse Pig Ear Chew

Dr. Lickingstone’s Safari Helmet – A chew toy that is shaped like a, you guessed it – safari hat. It’s sturdy, and feels like it could take a beating. It also has a squeak thing in it. However, because this toy is much sturdier and firm it takes a lot more effort to get the noise to activate. This would definitely be a good jaw work out for the pups.

Dr. Lickingstone’s Safari Helmet

Nana’s Chicken Jerky – These look like biscuits (British cookies) and have a bit of a jerky feel to them but not quite as chewy. I noted this from breaking it with hands…testing only goes so far on pup product.

Nana’s Chicken Jerky

Charlie’s Heart of Cheesiness – These are long, tube-like or cylinder shaped snacks. I’m going to assume these have an authentic cheese flavor.

Charlie’s Heart of Cheesiness

Alright…so I totally understand that my descriptions are probably the most prolific use of the English language you’ve encountered today. I wish I could give you a better description of the food products but my reviews will only be completed within certain levels of testing. I’m not tasting dog treats…not even for the Society.

What I can tell you is that I believe that BarkBox is committed to bringing excitement and fun to the doggy population and with the highest standards. This subscription box is all about the dogs and making their lives full of doggy fun, doggy smiles, doggy nutrition, and happy doggy living.

They fully delivered because Ruby smiled. Swear to god my dog smiled! And that makes me smile.

It’s a safari good time! And with that, I leave you with this…

I’ve learned from my Ruby girl, that dogs experience in 1 day, all the laughter, sadness, fun, hard-work, and boredom that we humans experince in a whole year. It’s up to us to fill their days with all the glitter and sparkle we can in order make each of their days full of what we hope for in 1 of our years.