Review of the Sodapup LIFE Saver RING Dog Toy

As a dog mom to 4 Dogs and a Dog Trainer who specialises in Canine Enrichment and has a slight obsession with dog toys and everything related to it, I have used and tested a fair share of (Enrichment) Dog Toys and must say that to me Sodapup Life Ring is a fairly underrated super Dog Toy! We (my dogs and I) LOVE it!

And in this post I tell you all about it. I also filmed a video – where you can see what it looks like in real life and how my dogs interact with it.

If you shop directly at sodapup.com you can save 10% with our code BULLYCO. Disclaimer: I will earn a small commission if you shop via my link. You can also get the Sodapup Life Ring on Amazon and / or some local Retails in your area might offer it as well. If you are in the UK, you can buy it also from NoFussFill and save 10% with my friends referral link.

Before we get into all the nitty gritty details, here is an overview for you with what we cover – so you can jump straight to the bits that you find most interesting. Simply click on the highlighted areas of the agenda and you will be taken directly to the relevant section.

What actually is the SodaPup Life Saver Dog Toy?

The Sodapup Life Safer is a ‘stuff able’, well I guess more a fillable Enrichment Dog Toy and a Chew Toy in one and looks like – yes you guess it right – a Life Ring.

Most enrichment dog toys are stuff able ‘Kong Alternatives’ and have a smiliar way of working. The SodaPup Life Ring is very different to all of them as you don’t just fill it like a kong. So your dog will have a very different expereince and lovely alternative to try out something new and use a different skill set when getting the food out of the Life Ring Toy. If you are on the outlook for something new and exciting to add to your enrichment toy collection, then this toy is a really great addition for you. For more details on the Life Ring see section First Impressions of the Sodapup Life Ring Dog Toy & Product Details

If you are new to Canine Enrichment and Dog Enrichment Toys and just want to see what’s on the market. Then keep reading (everyone keeps reading please) and also have a little browse through my other Review posts as I review a lot of them. If you are unfamiliar with the SodaPup Brand, you might want to watch this video SODAPUP DOG TOYS why I love them 🐕 💖 first and then return to the post.

Sodapup Life Ring Dog Toy Video

In this video you can see what the SodaPup Life Ring looks like in real life, how I fill it and also how my dogs (different breeds) interact with it.

First Impressions of the Sodapup Life Ring Dog Toy & Product Details

The SodaPup Life Ring is a durable chew toy and a treat dispenser dog toy in one. It has the shape of a life ring and you can insert treats inside the rim of the back of the toy or fill it with some yummy paste – this could be some peanut butter (make it doggy safe!), some yoghurt or even just your dogs normal food – whether you feed wet food or even raw. You can basically stuff whatever you like in the rim.

This is actually the real fun bit about the toy and what makes it so different to the ‘normal’ enrichment toys (the Kong alternative ones). It has a very big opening in the middle and the dog has to lick around the toy from outside in. It’s a very different skill set your dog will have to use when playing with this toy and therefore allows for a fun challenge.

As all enrichment toys, this toy is also a great tool to help with boredom or excessive chewing, provide mental stimulation and entertainment. Can be used to prevent potential behavioural issues, as slow feeder or passive calming activity to destress your dog and calm them. The biggest win here is how different it is to other enrichment toys though!

Sodapup Life Saver Ring Product Details

The SodaPup Life Ring Dog Toy only comes in ones size. Here are the measures straight from the SodaPup webpage:

• LARGE: 4.25″ diameter
• 1.5″ thick
• Weight: 8.6 oz
• For dogs 30-65 lbs/15-30 kg.

Here is how SodaPup sums up their Life Ring Toy in one picture:

Durability

Let’s talk about the durability and whether it’s a good chew toy – as it’s labelled an enrichment and chew toy. I will also include in the bottom bit of this paragraph why you might want to rethink the chew toy bit when you use it as a a slow feeder or enrichment toy. But first things first:

SodaPup has created a ‘destrukto’ scale to give an indication of the durability and toughness of dog toys – very important for the ones of us with power chewers or Bully Breed Puppies who go to town with the average dog toys.

The SodaPup Life Ring is not available in the black magnum version for super power chewers but pretty tough. Also, if you have Bully Breeds like me, this doesn’t necessarily mean they are chewing through all the toys. My bullies don’t chew them at all actually and carry the toys around very gently like a precious thing that has to be taken care of. So, if you fill it with food and they understand the value is in the food and the fun to getting to the food (and licking it rather than chewing to get there), then this is definitely durable enough!

The Life Ring is labelled an enrichment and chew toy but I would decide how you want to use it. You can of course play with it, throw it, role it etc and have some fun with your dog but if you don’t want them to chew the toy to keep using it for enrichment, the I’d use another toy as a chew toy and keep this one for play and enrichment. If you’d like to learn how to prevent your dog from chewing on enrichment tools have a look at this post – the technique is the same, no matter the tool, whether Lick mat or a toy. How to use a Lick mat (and prevent chewing)?

Due to the shape of the ring it’s also easy to carry around for your dog and find a quiet, undisturbed place to spend some time with their toy and the challenge of getting to the food.

Like all the SodaPup Dog toys, this one is also MADE IN USA. This means the toy is designed and manufactured in the USA! Made from FDA compliant, non-toxic and biodegradable material that is ‘sustainably harvested helping us reduce our carbon footprint’ (from the SodaPup webpage).

For me as a first impression, I trust the SodaPup brand, I like their toys and I LOVE this one. It’s different, it’s fun, it feels good, it’s easy to fill and it’s dishwasher safe!! Big bonus from me. Haha.

As it’s a dog toy, I, the dog mom, am obviously NOT the most important judge here! Way more important is what my dogs think about it. So, here is the feedback from the real critiques.

What my Dogs think of it (different Breeds, Sizes, Ages and Skill | Patience Levels)

So, who has tested and how? You can see some of my dogs use the toy in the video above and also how they use the toy. Here’s the summary of all the times we have used the toy and it hasn’t been on video.

ALL of my dogs like the SodaPup Life Ring dog toy and are excited to use it! But they are not all as patient and ‘successful’ in cleaning out the toy properly.

American Bully A

The first one to have tested the Sodapup Ring is our newest family member (meet my dogs here). Big A is not very experienced with enrichment toys and has a pretty big nose. For him the biggest challenge was to really get “into” the toy. This is on one hand of course because he has never us ed anything similar but also because of his anatomy was just more difficult than for my wadi dogs for example. When he uses this toy, I let him do the fun bits and then remove the toy before frustration builds up. One way he uses this toy and other enrichment toys – and it’s very efficient way – is to throw it down the staircase. This way he can easily get the food out but obviously not in the planned way.

Wadi Dogs Panda & Chalkie (& Sammy our Foster)

Panda, Chalkie and our lovely foster girly Samara are all Wadi Dogs and all of them tried and tested the Sodapup Life Ring. Let’s talk about Wadi Dogs first quickly though because I think this is important to understand how these dogs tick and why they nailed this toy immediately – and why it’s so amazing for them!

Wadi Dogs are Omani Street Dogs, ie Arabian village Dogs from the Middle East. They are one of the most primitive dog breeds in the world and aren’t an actually human bred breed but a breed that simply developed and lives in human-centered environments. They aren’t owned by anyone, so no pet dogs (until they are adopted. For more on street dog adoption etc check out this Playlist on my YouTube Channel). These dogs are super smart, have a medium size build and a long nose (pretty much sighthounds). They are natural food scavengers and harness these skills for generations, so getting to food and licking out stuff is very natural to them (and very enriching, so please do keep it up!). So, needless to say – the Life Ring was a bliss for them.

Panda, my girly who is my most resilient dog when it comes to enrichment toys cleans this toy completely and I get it back spotless! It will take her some time but she will happily stick with the task until its done! She shows absolutely no signs of frustration and it’s an amazing toy to keep her entertained and happy. She is also the one who finishes the toys when the boys start to get impatient – we simply swap the toys then.

Let’s talk about my foster dog. She was already 3 years old and not used to enrichment toys or being fed out of toys, slow feeders etc. So she is not as experienced as Panda but a smaller dog (about 16kg) and she took to the toy immediately. It took her longer to clean it out than Panda but she simply took it to her bed and spend some time with it. It kept her entertained for a pretty long time – without any frustration building up.

The Bosch Pup’s Verdict:

All of my dogs love to engage with the SodaPup Life Ring, however I think it’s important to build up a certain skill level and also to make it really easy first until you have build up a certain drive for the toy and patience level to avoid frustration! If you have a big headed dog or one with a wide snoot, then you will want to see if your dog can get to the food.

All my dogs are medium to large dogs and fit the ‘dog description’ ‘for large dogs 15-30 kg’ – except for the XL Bully, he weighs more. So, I don’t have small dogs and I havent tried the toy with small dogs but wouldnt see any issues in doing so, except if your dog is maybe tiny, then this could be a bit heavy. I would say though that there are a LOT of dogs who easily weigh more than 30 kg – maybe a size up would be nice.

Pros and Cons of the Sodapup Life Ring (compared to other treat dispenser and chew dog toys)

Sol let’s talk quickly bout the Pros and Cons of the SodaPup Life Ring Dog Toy before we get on to our final score.

While the SodaPup Brand is not yet available everywhere there is a growing amount of resellers and Amazon make it pretty easy to order worldwide.

Final Score: SodaPup Life Ring Dog Toy

So, let’s do the final conclusion on the SodaPup Life Ring Dog Toy. As mentioned before, I use and test a whole lot of dog toys and Canine Enrichment is a big part of my daily life as a dog trainer and mom to a multi-dog household.

The SodaPup Life Ring gets a 5 out of 5 from me. It’s very different to most other enrichment | stuff-able dog toys, it’s durable, easy to use and fun for my dogs. If you’re looking for a high-quality dog toy that will last for months (or even years!) to come, the Sodapup Life Ring is an excellent choice. I think it’s a great addition to other enrichment toys and a standout product for the SodaPup Brand. I’d give a 5 Star with a Sticker if they’d also announce additional sizes for this toy 😉

Have you tried the SodaPup Life Ring? What is your Feedback? I’d love to know! 💖