Did you miss Dr. Becker’s best for 2009? You can still see it!
By Gina Spadafori
December 28, 2009
Our Dr. Marty Becker was on “Good Morning America” this morning with the Best Pet Products of 2009.
The selection process take a long time — two months, at least – and starts when Dr. B asks more than 100 veterinarians, behaviorists, trainers and other pet-care and pet-industry experts to nominate the products that really caught their eyes in 2009. From all those hundreds of product suggestions, Dr. B looks for the ones that turn up again and again on every list. And then, he draws up a list of the top 20 or so and asks the companies to provide information to his “GMA” producers, who alone decide on the handful of products that will make it onto the air.
Some of the big companies seem to make the list every year because they’re always developing new products and can get them into the distribution and promotion channels. But every year there’s a small company or two with a product that comes out of right field and grabs everyone’s attention. This year, those products include one of the Nina Ottosson food puzzles and a little gadget called the Tick Key, that fits on your key chain and snags those little pests in the field immediately. Both are Teh Bomb, speaking personally. Those two were on MY list of the best, added into the mix with the rest of the pet-care folks.
Read the whole list here.
And click on the image below to watch the video:
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From the linked article:
“The Tick Key’s Tick Removal Key is the only tick removal device that uses natural leverage to remove the entire tick from your furry friend, Becker said.”
There’s a product that’s been on the market for well over ten years called “Ticked Off”. http://www.amazon.com/Ticked-O.....B0002Y1REW
The first time I saw one my reaction was “This is BRILLIANT!” You slide the slot in the spoon between tick and skin and then simply rock the the spoon back creating a “natural leverage” that not only removes the tick - head and all - but keeps it caught in the slot of the spoon until you find an appropriate place to dispose of it.
So while I think the Tick Key is another nice application of a useful idea, I find it somewhat inaccurate to refer to it as the *only* device that utilizes this idea.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — December 28, 2009 @ 10:37 am
Awwww, a calico named Jewel! My calico’s name is Jool (she’s a character on the tv show Farscape) and people often think I don’t know how to spell. :-)
Comment by Sherron — December 28, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
The flying disc/bowl looks an awful lot like a Chewber… http://www.chewber.com/
Comment by Heather — December 29, 2009 @ 6:39 am
I’ll tell you what: I go to pet product trade shows pretty often, and there aren’t a lot of wholly new ideas in the world!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 29, 2009 @ 6:47 am
I understand that. I’d just like to see them be more careful and truthful in their language. Don’t say something is “the only” application of a clever idea when someone else beat you to the punch over ten years ago (and is therefore no longer the fresh young new kid on the block but the idea is every bit as clever and useful as it was over ten years ago).
Comment by The OTHER Pat — December 29, 2009 @ 7:31 am
And a follow-up thought: If the Tick Key wants to make some statement about how they think they’ve IMPROVED upon the idea behind Ticked Off, for example, that’s fair game. But I did a search of teh Googles for “Tick Key v.s. Ticked Off” and couldn’t find any commercial sites that discussed and compared their relative merits.
I did find one blog entry from someone who tried them both and preferred the Ticked Off . . . . . . . . . . . .
http://www.thebuildingbrows.co.....tools.html
Comment by The OTHER Pat — December 29, 2009 @ 7:36 am
Agreed. We should have been a “tick” more careful and not just went with the manufacturer’s claim. :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — December 29, 2009 @ 7:44 am