Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
From 3 months upwards, grows with child, great for encouraging walking |
| Disadvantages: |
Takes alot of stregth to lock into upright position, A small part has come off |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
My daughter had this as a Christmas present when she was 7 months old. Although it is from 3 months I thought it would be perfect to encourage her to pull herself up to standing and walking.
WHAT AGE RANGE IS IT FOR...
It is made for three stages:
3 Months
As a Activity Centre fixed on a Cot
Sitting Up/Crawling
The Puppy can be freestanding so the child can sit in front of it and play, try to push it or try to pull up to standing.
Pulling Up/Walking
The child can use it to pull up to standing and progress to pushing it along.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE AND DOES...
It is moulded plastic which is white in colour with brightly coloured bits on it.
He has a very cute face and his tongue is
bright red and can be pulled from side to side. He has three brightly coloured small pieces of ribbon on his forehead for hair and brightly coloured knobs which can be twiddled with and moved up and down in the place of his ears.
He has three flashing lights for his collar which flash and play a cheerful tune (which is called B-I-N-G-O just in case you know it!) when pushed.
He has a
little mirror a squeaky heart, a ball that can be turned as well as flaps which have pictures underneath (although my daughter has never been very impressed with these!)
He has a height adjustable red handle at the top and the back of the puppy is set onto a blue frame with wheels at the bottom. This can be adjusted so that it folds down flat to be fitted onto a cot of for storage. It clicks so that you know it is locked safely into position but you do need to use quite a bit of strength to pull it out, I do worry that I will overdo it and break it but so far it has stood up well.
As the child pushes the puppy along now and again he will let out a bark which definately encourages my daughter to keep doing it as she chuckles along.
WHAT WE THINK ABOUT IT...
My daughter straight away fell in love with the music and she learnt how to make it play very quickly. She had a little fiddle with the knobs and poked his tongue around. If she had been given this as a younger child I'm not sure that it would have been enough to hold her attention. However, it came a firm favourite as soon as she could pull up to standing and aided her to walk.
Now she can walk unaided she still insists on having it out and zooming around the room with it. She realises what it represents (ie: knows its a copy of a real dog) and still chuckles when he barks.
THE DISADVANTAGES...
We have had this puppy for about 10 months now and he has been played with for hours and hours by my daughter and her friends. However, as mention above it does require alot of strength to pull out the frame from folded position to upright. Also one of the knobs you can twiddle at the top in place of his ears is now missing, which if swallowed I would think would be a choking hazard.
Overall he has been a firm favourite with my daughter but because of the piece which is missing I would recommend that it is only played with under your supervision - just in case!
Priced at around £22, It is made by Fisher Price and is available at all major outlets such as Argos, Toys 'R' Us and Mothercare.
