One the few gripes that my human Mom has of local subscription boxes are that the products offered are quite common, and can be purchased easily locally from various Pet Shops or through sites like Taobao.com.

So as to experience a range of products that cannot be purchased locally, Mom subscribed to PupBox for 6 months to see what we will get.

At USD$39 each month, PupBox will have 7 items consisting of treats, toys, chews, accessories and a monthly training guide. Since Pupbox did not deliver to Singapore, Mom used a freight forwarder’s service to get the items shipped to Singapore.

The only downside with using a freight forwarder is that we don’t get the items in the original box, but the items are repacked into another envelope to be sent to us. But what really matters were the goodies inside

Here are the goodies from the February 2016 PupBox:

Top (left to right)

1. Valentine’s Bandana – Estimated USD$5.00

2. Mighty Dog Toy Safari Series Gina the Giraffe Retail Price USD$12.00 

Pink is not just for girl pups, but boy pups who are masculine enough to carry the colour! This line of products is made to be tough to withstand any over-enthusiastic chewer (like me, who recently de-squeaked one of the squeakies from my other toy) This is fast becoming one of my favourite squeakies, together with Flopps the Bunny (toy on the right) that came with the January Pupbox.

3. Gnawsome Light and Squeak Ball Red USD$5.99

The soft spines on ball promotes dental health and it is bite tested and durable to withstand the toughest of chewers. The ball has an internal LED light that lights up when the ball is pressed. This ball had the ultimate squeaky, the oudest I have heard and the fun is seeing the ball light up when I run after it.

4. The Natural Beef Chew USD$3.00

100% Beef Offal Low Odor Bully Chew sourced from Free-Cattle Range. Since the Chews are not sold individually and can be found on Amazon.com in a 25 piece pack, this was a good opportunity to sample the product

5. Smart Pet Love Pupsicle Chew Toy USD$12.00 

Add water to the chew toy and freeze and the cold melting ice soothes the puppy’s aching and itching gums

6. I’d Rather be with my Dog, Paleo Tummy Love 5oz USD$10.60

A soft and chewy snack made with coconut oil and two quality protein sources. Without grain, gluten or soy.

7.  Dogswell Sweet Potato with Chicken Broth Super Boost Veggie Chews USD$8.80

Sweet Potato Chews with flaxseed, Omega 3 vitamins A & E to maintain healthy eyes, skin and coat

Total value : USD$57.39 (SGD$80.35)

6 months subscription costs a total of USD$164.00 (with a $10 off from $174.00). This works out to be USD$27.40 (SGD$38.30) per box and with added shipping cost to Singapore of SGD $13.00 (Freight forwarder : 65daigou). The cost of one subscription box is SGD$51.50, and the total value of the items were SGD$80.35.

Is Pupbox worth it?

Pupbox is a good value subscription box with a variety of toys, chews and accessories that cannot be found locally in Singapore. These things make it worthwhile to spend that $51.50 a month, for a nice surprise monthly for 6 months.

However, If you have a pup like me, who tends to be rather fussy about what I eat, you might not like some of the treats that are in the box. I didn’t fancy the treats that came with the February Pupbox, but the January Pupbox had a Primal Beef Liver treat (I am eating Primal Freeze Dried daily now!) and a Bully stick from The Natural Dog Company (not sold to retailers in Singapore) which I loved. While Mom liked the Spotty Treat bag, a really useful item which she has been looking for, but could not find in Singapore, to be used for storing treats for me when I have my training sessions.

Mom have since added a note in my Pupbox online account that I prefer to have more Toys, Chews and Accessories and less treats.

Overall, I feel that Pupbox is the best subscription box I have received so far.

I am a believer of this quote ‘When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.’ An average price of $20+ a month is considered affordable for an average person. And if you have seen how much are the dog toys and treats at the local Pet shop, you will expect that there will not be too many things found in a $20+ local dog subscription box. Some people reading this, might say, “But of course Pupbox costs almost double the price of a Singapore-based subscription box.”

If you are like mom, who have almost combed the shelves in the chain Pet Shops and some others for their toys and accessories, in the hope to buy interesting and useful merchandise, then I think the Pupbox is worth subscribing. And if you have a pup that eats everything and anything without any allergies, then I will say “Go for Pupbox.” It’s good value for quality and unique items for your pup.

In the meantime, I will be sure to enjoy my other Pupboxes which will be arriving in the next 4 months!

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Subscription boxes is in the rage these days, from beauty, food to even dog subscription boxes. So my human got me a trial subscription box from Wigglebox.sg.

If you have a short attention span (like me) and like surprises in a box to be delivered to your home monthly (dogs especially love new toys and goodies). For human subscription boxes, there are new stuff in their boxes monthly, and things are curated for the box, usually at a discount from retail prices. Dog subscription boxes are similar that way.

So what do I like about Wigglebox so far?

I like it that there was free and reliable delivery. The morning on the day the item was delivered to my home, my human received an sms in the morning to inform her that the courier will deliver the item at a specific window of time later that same day.

It was all very exciting for me, to see this man at the door with a box with an orange ribbon, with a box of stuff just for me! Only for me! And to think that just 1.5 weeks ago, I was still in a cage in a petshop.

The human didn’t even take a proper photo of the box with the nice orange ribbon, she just couldn’t wait and ripped open the box, I suspect she is more excited about my stuff than I am.

The next thing I liked was that the box was bigger than I am, I could sit in it and practice my pensive look.

This was a trial box at $28, with 5 items. I packet of treats, 3 toys and a product sample.

Product Plans :

One Time Trial Box – $28

3 month Plan @ $26 a month – $78

6 month Plan @$25 a month – $150

12 month Plan @$23 a month – $276

What’s in the box?

1. Wellness Petite Treats in Duck, Mango and Coconut 170g – Retail Price $9.50 from Pet Lover Centre

My human just got a pack for me last week in a different flavour. I can regretfully only eat 1-2 a day, as the woman is stingy with her treats. For a chihuahua pup, 120 pieces in a pack of treats can last me a long time. So this pack will be going to Uncle Moey (my human’s extended family’s 7 year old Sheltie).

Uncle Moey is really benefitting from all these really, ever since I came into my human’s life, she has been buying treats for me and then sharing them with Uncle Moey.

2. Warren London Sample  – Deep Cleaning Paw Fizz Tablets 30g (4 tablets)

Retail price probably ZERO, cos my human who was trained in Marketing in Consumer Goods says that it cost them nothing to have it in the package. All it took was Wigglebox people to seek sponsorships from brands and they usually give it FOC to them.

This will go to uncle Moey too, as my pink tender paws have only seen the marble in the home, I am still not a fan of the concrete and the grass as far as I know. Come on woman, you have to give me time!

3. Rope Toy – Retails price estimated the most $6

4. Bedroom slipper squeaky soft toy $4.50

My human saw it at Lazada.com at that price

5. Life Buoy looking toy – Retail price estimated the most $6 

Total Estimated Value at $26

As you can see in the photos, the toys are quite big. Again I am in extra small sized now, so everything will look big relative to my size.

I may be small and don’t eat too much treats, but only 1 treat in the box?

As for the toys, they may be aesthetically impressive due to their size relative to my size, but it doesn’t entertain me for very long. There needs to be more customisation on the toys especially for toy sized dogs, in fact even an option for puppies will be so much cooler. The slipper thing is pretty good with its squeaky feature and plush fabric, but there are many toy Poodles, Shih tzus, Yorkshire Terriers, Malteses with small mouths that will prefer smaller toys.

My human paid $28 for the subscription box, so I was hoping that I could get more treats of toys for a better value.

My human said that we will likely not continue our subscription with Wigglebox until we see some improvements in their offerings. So far, I am really not impressed by Wigglebox.

I don’t particularly enjoy it when my human makes me pose for picture especially with that big buoy thing around my head, but hey! A pup eventually needs to get use to having the phone camera at his face and learn to stay still for photos.

My human told me that there are two more subscription boxes coming our way in the next couple of weeks, one from Malaysia and another catered for puppies from the USA.

So how will Wigglebox compare with these other subscription boxes? Stay tune for my next review!

Woof! Signing out!

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