A Huge Darby Dog
Written: Dec 31 '02 (Updated Jan 01 '03)
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Pros: Does not bark or bite
Cons: cost a lot of money, takes up space in my house
The Bottom Line: For those willing to shell out the bucks this is a cute stuffed dog that holds up to the abuse given by two kids
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| bonniesayers's Full Review: Animal Alley 43" Darby Dog |
I did not place a request for the 43” Animal Alley Darby Dog and never in my wildest dreams did I expect to find this when I answered the door one night recently. There stood the ex-husband holding this large stuffed animal stating it was the gift for our six-year old son. For a number of years many have had a difficult time trying to choose a gift for my younger son, maybe it is because he is non-verbal and cannot express as others clearly what he likes and does not care for.
Being the sole caretaker I have never had the problem others encounter with picking items of interest for my son. The general consensus seems to be give him large gifts, I guess to compensate for what he cannot do, who knows for sure, but he has received large cars, airplanes and trains that just take up space and have received no interest from said child.
Most autistic children do not have a sense of imagination or creativity, so to get a large item that just sits there is the opposite of what they need to stimulate their senses and create a spark of interest. My older son is high functioning autistic and has quite an imagination and can play along with this 43” Alley Animal Darby Dog.
The expression from my seven-year old and myself was, I don’t believe this large dog is coming inside this house. I dragged it into the bedroom where the younger child was watching his videos and plopped it on the bed. He turned and looked at it and I left the room. A little while later I came back to smell the dog and make sure there was no smoke residue on it from the father. It smelled fine and then I realized I should take this off my bed since I have asthma and worried about fatal attacks in the bedroom. This is because the Mother that lived here before me had one and died at the Hospital, not something you like to learn after moving in. As a child growing up I was never allowed to have stuffed animals so wanted this out of the bedroom.
My son would not let me remove the 43” Animal Alley Darby Dog from the bedroom and dropped it onto the floor and sat on it while watching his video. He seemed to enjoy this and not long afterwards his brother came in and they played with this thing together taking turns. My seven-year old dragged it all around the house, pulling on the ears and sitting on it as well as talking to it.
He is very soft and long enough to be a rug for two kids to sit on and watch television or just hang out. Animal Alley is an exclusive item for Toys R Us selling for about seventy dollars. The contents are all new materials, no idea what exactly that means but the fibers are polyester, and made in China.
The 43” Animal Alley Darby Dog can only be in one position comfortably, lying down with his legs tucked under the bottom end. My older son started rubbing the bottom section of the dog and the tail was wagging, this just delighted him and he continued doing this for a very long time.
The paws are a lighter tan color with some stitching on there to add to the likeness of a real dog. The ears are long and floppy with a light shade of brown on the inside. The two black eyes seem very secure and there is some black stitching to show the mouth in a smile. The nose is large in a brown color. With both legs and paws tucked under this gives more room for storing and a child could easily sit on him this way since the back side is higher up and quite round.
The age recommendation on this according to Amazon is six months to seven years, and due to the size I would use caution with this overly large plush animal around small children. Since we have a corner spot in our living room already with the collection of stuffed animals this 43” Animal Alley Darby Dog will not feel lonely here, but he gets moved often to keep the kids happy. They seem to love dragging it around the house, gives them some kind of comfort. This is the closest we will ever come to a dog due to my asthma and the kids’ disabilities, but there is no barking or crap to pick up and it goes wherever we put it.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): gift (69.99)
Type of Toy: Stuffed Toy
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years
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Epinions.com ID:
bonniesayers
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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