If there is one thing that everybody must experience in life, it is the love and warmth of a dog. Life is so much better with a dog. My dogs look adorable even when they are onto the most mischievous things, be it spilling ink on themselves or shredding my offer letter into bits and pieces. I have two dogs, Snoopy and Bruno, seeing them indulge in art and craft is an absolute delight. Both of them are absolute craftsmen. Lately, they took out two of my books from the bookshelf and had a lovely time shredding them into pieces. I was devastated but seeing the two pups melted my heart. It was then that I decided to keep them busy with things that are made for them to play with so that I can put their productive minds occupied with the right things. 

My best friend and I are both dog parents and once, we were both talking about the mischievous activities of our very cute dogs, it was then that she told me about BarkBox. It is a monthly service that delivers toys that are one of a kind, specially curated to keep your productive dogs busy through the day. Apart from this, BarkBox also delivers natural treats and chewable delights for dogs, once a month. She told me that she has availed the subscription of BarkBox and each month the products get delivered to her place for Coco, her Golden Retriever puppy. She also said how happy Coco gets on identifying the arrival of his BarkBox and starts wagging his tail and spins around the house like crazy, exactly how excited he gets upon being taken out on a walk. 

She told me more about the company and I was absolutely amazed by it. BarkBox is a company that provides a monthly subscription of products and services related to dogs by providing treats, chewable and toys. Over 1 million dogs are served monthly by the company through retail distribution as well as subscriptions of BarkBox and Super Chewer. Lately, there was an announcement on 17th December, 2020 by BarkBox, Inc. along with Northern Star Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: STIC.U), a company for publicly, traded special purpose, that they have entered into the merger agreement. This transaction gives the company an approximate value of $1.6 billion and as a result, this transaction will help BARK to become a company that is publicly listed under the ticker symbol of BARK on the New York Stock Exchange. After hearing all this, I was amazed by the idea of the company and regretted not knowing about it before. I immediately checked their website and took two subscriptions, for both Bruno and Snoopy. 

The experience of seeing your dog happily wagging its tail each month when the BarkBox arrives is an absolute joy. I feel that those are the moments that one lives for and each dog and a dog owner must get to live those moments. What drew me to getting the subscription is the first-hand experience of my best friend and her dog Coco with the BarkBox. 

The customization of each box is done by BarkBox in accordance with the size of the dog. They ensure that each box is curated in a way that is fit for your furry friend and also do an amazing job of keeping their human friend happy as well. Each box delivered by them has a theme that is unique. The box is decorated both from the inside as well as outside, ensuring that each item in the box follows the theme. My favorite out of all the boxes has been the “Bark to School”. This box comes inclusive of plush toys shaped like lunch that is placed inside a Velcro sealed lunchbox that is embroidered. The box contains ham and cheese sandwiches, some jerky chew sticks which are all-natural. Apart from this, it contains some sturdy toys and some more natural snacks. All of these products come wrapped in yearbook photos of cute dogs. 

The “Home for the Holidays” themed box by BarkBox comes inclusive of cranberry biscuits, turkey liver, a turkey plush toy, some turkey sausage chew sticks. It also contains some other treats and toys. With this box, both Snoopy and Bruno were all set to join the thanksgiving bandwagon without having to show their dissatisfied puppy face from not getting anything from the dining table. The toys by BarkBox are all curated in the United States of America and those are exclusively found only at the BarkBox website and not in any other store across the world. The treats are healthy, natural and delicious (at least this is what the reaction of Bruno and Snoopy says). BarkBox also runs a Scout’s Honor program, wherein, its guarantees that your furry friends will love each and everything in the box. They also claim that they will send anything from the website for free if the dog does not like any product from the Scout’s Honor program. 

Listed below are some things which will enable you to understand BarkBox better-

SIGNING UP FOR BARKBOX

Signing up in order to have a BarkBox may be one of the easiest subscriptions you have done in your life. The process is very simple and does not include any troubles at all. At first, you need to go to the BarkBox website and log in using an account. If you do not have an account, making one is no big deal. To ensure that your dog gets the best products, the website requires that you answer a few simple questions. Such questions are generally the ones related to the specific needs of your dogs. These needs may be dietary needs or even their preferred objects to play with. Once you have answered the necessary questions, you can choose which plan you want to avail yourself of. There are three choices provided to every customer, that is, whether they would subscribe for a trial of just one month, for six months, or a year. 

On completing your order, you can expect that the BarkBox would be delivered to the specified location at the latest possible date. Usually, the boxes are shipped on the 15th day of each month and you can expect the delivery to be made in two to eight working days, as per the United States calendar. For Canada, the expected date of delivery is around four to twelve working days. Moreover, depending on when you are placing the order for the BarkBox subscription of the first month, you can hope to see the item within the same month. You and your furry friend would be able to receive up to one box every month for as long as you remain signed up to the BarkBox subscription.

Now, you may be wondering if the price to sign up to BarkBox is one that would prevent you from doing so. Well, not to worry, the price actually depends on the plan that you wish to select. For example, the price related to the single-month plan is $29, while that for six months is $25 and $21 for the yearly plans. Considering the content of the BarkBox, I would say that these prices are quite reasonable. No matter which plans you decide to choose, you will still end up saving a lot of expenses when you compare with purchasing the same items, treats and toys from any other pet store. Furthermore, BarkBox offers a wide range of promotions and coupon codes to get discounts on your order. 

WHAT DOES THE BARKBOX CONTAIN?

The BarkBox contains a surprise; it is no joke. The items that are contained in the Barkbox change every month and in relation to the theme of the particular month. As such, each Barkbox contains a variety of toys, treats and chews that your pup is sure to love! If we take a look at a classic box, we will find exactly two toys that are of a durable nature, two large bags containing treats and a long-lasting chew toy. Nevertheless, BarkBox also gives you the option of customizing the content of the box so that your dog can receive a greater number of or lesser goodies each month. Even so, the content still remains a surprise until you open it.

BarkBox offers different sizes depending on the size of your dog. For example, the size small is for the dogs under 20 pounds weight, while the medium is for the dogs ranging between 20 pounds to 49 pounds. Finally, dogs weighing 50 pounds or greater fall under the large dog's category. All of the sizes correspond to the same price and possess the function of being updated at any point in time. However, BarkBox recommends that you choose one size greater than the actual weight category of your dog since it ensures that the toys would not be easily destroyed by chewing. Generally, the toys include cutely shaped and designed squeakers, stuffing and crinkle material made by the in-house designers of BarkBox. 

Much like the toys, BARK also creates its very own chews and treats in the United States, and only with the highest quality of ingredients. So, if your dog has allergies from chicken, beef or turkey, or any other health concerns, you only need to customize your box such that the treats made using the ingredients that may lead to an undesired reaction are removed from the box. Every dog deserves to enjoy the delicious treats, and BarkBox ensures exactly that. Moreover, you can also connect directly with BARK in the event that the allergy your dog has is not widely known so customize the BarkBox per the needs of your dog.

Some may wonder whether the toys provided in the BarkBox can withstand the chewing behaviour of their dogs. While all the toys contained within the BarkBox are of high quality, certain dogs require more than that, that is, toys with greater durability to withstand constant chewing. Bark created the monthly subscription for the Super Chewer for this very reason. The Super Chewer box contains two fluff-free toys that are extremely durable, two large bags containing treats and two chews.

WHAT TYPES OF BARKBOX THEMES CAN YOU GET?

The themes of the Barkbox differ each month so that your pupper gets the chance to experience only the best of surprises. Let us have a look at some of the previous themes that Barkbox had provided to the good boys and girls receiving the item. For example, in order to celebrate the blooming of the cherry blossoms in Japan, one particular month entailed the BarkBox theme of ‘hanami bento’. The event is related to the celebration in Japan wherein families picnic together under the cherry blossoms. Similarly for the dogs with a wild side, the ‘Sniffin’ Safari’ theme contained different toys and treats to bring in that very fun to the lives of your dogs. For the dogs that got the ‘New York City’ themed BarkBox, well, the toys, treats and chew inside must have made them feel like they were actually in New York City.

Similarly, the ‘Hairy Metal’ theme had been a hit amongst the fans for the wild design of the toys and the treats which were inspired by the superstars, giving your dogs a chance to rock like the superstars they are. The ‘Knights of the Hound Table’, on the other hand, was made for the kings and included toys and treats designed to make them feel majestic. Finally, my personal favorite is the ‘Muttcracker’, a BarkBox designed on the theme of Christmas to make the holidays for both you and your dogs feel even more magical. Best of all, you also get BarkBox to celebrate the birth of your pup, that is, in the theme of their birthday by allowing the addition to extra items, such as birthday-themed toys, treats and chews.