Best Dog Subscription Box:
PupJoy
Vs
Pooch Perks
For today’s showdown, I bought and reviewed the dog subscription boxes PupJoy and Pooch Perks. I really wanted to test out a pet box for you guys, but unfortunately I don’t have a dog of my own, *insert sad face emoji*. Luckily, my parents just adopted a new puppy named Raider, that I could use as a guinea-pig…or “guinea-dog”? Either way, it was such a fun time introducing her to new toys and treats from these boxes!
To start off, both PupJoy and Pooch Perks subscription boxes strive to be environmentally friendly, offer premium ingredient treats, and source all products and ingredients from sustainable practicing companies within the USA.
One of Pooch Perks most important missions is to give back to dog rescue organizations in the U.S.A. A portion of your monthly Pooch Perks subscription is donated to organizations around the country that rescue abused and neglected dogs.
PupJoy is also active in giving back, as they have created the Helping Paws Program in partnership with the Bissell Pet Foundation. This foundation helps shelter animals find homes. Along with Pooch Perks, PupJoy also supports 4,000 rescue organizations.
*Updated 8/1/2020
Now let’s get to the showdown!
Price Varies
- Coupon: Visit Site For Current Deals
- Shipping: USPS First ($2.76)
- Countries Shipped To: USA Only
- Referral Program: YES, for VIP Members
- Rewards Program: YES, VIP Perks
- Product Type: Pet, Dog Products
Starting At $11.95
- Coupon: 10% OFF With Code POOCH10
- Shipping: $0.99
- Countries Shipped To: USA Only
- Referral Program: NO
- Rewards Program: NO
- Product Type: Pet, Dog Products
The Low-Down On This Showdown
Contender #1: PupJoy
Price
It seems like the price varies with what is recommended, what you pick, and your dog size. My total at first was $30.97, but PupJoy had a 30% OFF sale so I got almost $10 off! This made my final total $24.44.
Box Types:
- Regular PupJoy Box
- Special Quarantine Boxes.
PupJoy has curated 3 special over-sized boxes, to help you and your dog with lockdown.- Happy Hour Box.
This box has fun party themed toys, 3 exclusive happy hour plush toys, 4 premium ingredient treats, 2 grass-fed & all-natural bully sticks. - Treat Me Right Box.
This box is treats ONLY. Contains 7 full-sized bags of premium ingredient treats and 4 grass-fed & all-natural bully sticks. - Eco-Friendly Exclusives Box.
This box is all premium and up-cycled products. Contains 1 unique plush toy, 1 eco-friendly and renewable rubber treat dispensing toy, 4 exclusive eco-friendly treats, and 4 grass-fed & all-natural bully sticks. - All boxes are $42.99 (regular Price) / $37.99 (VIP price) for a small dog and $44.99 (regular price) / $39.99 (VIP price) for a large dog. These have a retail value of $65.
- PupJoy is also offering a special 50% OFF discount on the VIP Membership when buying this box. View this special offer and the Quarantine Boxes here.
- Happy Hour Box.
Dog Sizes
- XS (1-9 lbs)
- S (10-24 lbs)
- M (25-74 lbs)
- L (75-99 lbs)
- XL (100+ lbs)
- Mixed for multiple dogs
Products Offered:
- Chews
- Toys
- Treats
Frequency Options:
- One Time
- 2 Weeks
- 4 Weeks
- 6 Weeks
- 2 Months
- 3 Months (seasonal)
- 6 Months (semi-annual)
Rewards Program
PupJoy has a VIP rewards program that you can view here. Some of the perks are unlimited free shipping, special members-only prices, 10% cash back, and $20 for every friend you refer. It is $30 to join.
Contender #2: Pooch Perks
Price
Price varies with which box you choose and the products Pooch Perks selects. My total at first was $32, but with the 10% code, my my final total came to $29.97.
Box Types
- Popular Pooch (starting at $23.75)
Contains 2-3 toys, 2 USA made treats, & 1 chew. Can choose plush or durable toys. - Pampered Pooch (starting at $44.00 and valued over $70)
Contains 3-4 toys, 3 USA made treats, 2 chews, 1 accessory, & 1 poop bag. This option is really good for multiple dogs. - Toys Only (starts at $21.15)
Contains 3-4 plush toys. You can get “durable toys” instead and select weight of your dog. - Treats Only
Contains 3 treat bags and one chew treat. Although this box option was listed in the FAQ, it wasn’t an option to choose from when signing up. - Sample Box ($11.95)
Contains 1 plush toy and one treat bag. This box is offered so you can sample their products before committing to a full box. You can still customize this box based on the weight of your dog.
Dog Sizes
- S (0-30 lbs)
- M (30-70 lbs)
- L (70+ lbs)
- Mixed for multiple dogs
Products Offered:
- Chews
- Toys
- Treats
- Accessories
- Poop Bags
Frequency Options
- 1 Month
- 3 Months
- 6 Months (semi-annual)
- 12 Months
Gift Option
You can give the Popular Pooch or Pampered Pooch boxes as a gift.
ROUND 1 - Sign-Up & Cancelling
The sign-up process for both these boxes were pretty simple. There is one major difference between these two boxes though. With PupJoy, you can see and choose what’s in your box ahead of time. You’re essentially “building your own box”.
Pooch Perks on the other hand, isn’t this way. As long as you choose what types of items you want, the rest will be a surprise. They state that all boxes are monthly curated, which means there is a theme every month so you won’t get the same box twice.
PUPJOY
The sign-up process for PupJoy wasn’t as straightforward as I would have liked. Simply because, if you don’t have an account already, you’ll sign up but it takes you directly to your account dashboard after, not to where you start your subscription. So you have to click back on BYOD to start building your subscription box.
Once you do start building your box (BYOD), there are 5 steps:
- Pick the categories of products you want in your box (chews, toys, and/or treats). I chose all 3. They also say on the site that accessories, apparel, and grooming are “coming soon”.
- Select or add pup. If you already filled this info out in your account, it should auto-fill some of these fields for you, once you click on your dogs name. These questions will be things like, the name, breed, gender, age, size, and birthday of your pup. You can also add another pup to your box.
- Pups preferences in chews, toys, and treats.
- Choose shipment frequency. You can set up recurring deliveries to take advantage of PupJoy’s Autoship Savings Multiplier where you save an additional 2%-20% on purchases. This is if you want to keep receiving the same products monthly.
- Select items. This step is where you can either pick the items you’d like to try or keep the products that PupJoy recommended. Also, if you have more than one dog, PupJoy will choose recommended products that are unique for each dog. Even though one of the toys they recommended was incredibly cute, I don’t think it would fit my family and their dog, so I changed it. Unfortunately, this toy had cost $3 more than their recommended toy. Lastly, if you want to join PupJoy’s VIP program, you can do that at this point and receive money off your current box.
- Review cart. This is where you will see your total and can verify if you want to subscribe. There is a box to check to actually subscribe and pick frequency. Only click this if wanting a box more than one time!
One thing about this process that I didn’t like, was that I never received an email with my order receipt or when my order shipped. I had to go into my account on the site to see that my order went through and that it had indeed been shipped. There was no tracking number provided either.
Lastly, one great thing about PupJoy is you don’t have to worry about cancelling, as this box is a non-subscription based box.
POOCH PERKS
The sign-up process was pretty straightforward for Pooch Perks. It was done in 4 easy steps:
- Choose your box plan.
- Choose subscription frequency.
- Choose dog size.
- Select toy option.
Either plush or durable. I ended up choosing durable toys for this box to see which one Raider likes. - “Premium Pooch Booster” add-on.
This is an extra premium toy that would add an extra $8.00 to your box. - Review cart.
This is where you can create your account and add a discount code (use POOCH10 for 10% off).
Something that I found misleading is that, on the sign-up page it stated that I would get free shipping when selecting a monthly plan, but in the order review it showed that I had to pay $0.99 for shipping.
As far as cancelling goes, it was pretty easy. You just go into your account and go to your subscriptions. There should be “Cancel” listed within there. Keep in mind, if you are on mobile, you will have to scroll to the side of the screen. I didn’t see where to cancel at first because of this. Your subscription can be re-activated whenever you want to start this subscription up again.
*Make sure to get the 10% off your box when you sign up below and use code POOCH10!
Winner: Pooch Perks
Although sign-up for both boxes were pretty straightforward, I chose Pooch Perks as the winner of this round because I just didn’t like that PupJoy doesn’t send an order or shipping confirmation. Pooch Perks provided both AND a package tracking code.
ROUND 2 - Value & Quality
Both PupJoy and Pooch had great treats in them and toys that Raider enjoyed. There were some issues with the quality of some of them though.
PUPJOY
- PupJoy Donut Toy – $9.99
This is a PupJoy exclusive branded toy, but comparable toys like this retail for around $6 – $8. - 2 Pk Extra Thick 12″ Bully Sticks – $11.99
These bully sticks are PupJoy exclusive branded, but comparable bully sticks like this retail for around $5/ea. - Calvin’s Craft Cookies – $8.99
These treats regularly retail for the same price of $8.99 on the Calvin’s Craft Cookies website.
VALUE
I only got 3 items in this box, for around close to the same original (no discount) price as the Pooch Perks box. The retail cost if I got these items from a pet store or online, would be around the same cost/value as well. This makes sense, as I basically shopped on their site and “built a box” from that.
QUALITY
Raider LOVES the donut toy from this box and it’s probably her favorite out of all the toys she received from her boxes. Also, for this to be a plush toy, it seems very durable. She liked the treats as well, so no issue there.
POOCH PERKS
- GoDog RopeTek Chew Toy
Retails for around $7.30. - Planet Dog Orbee Tuff Dog Toy
Retails for around $9.99. - Prized Pet Pork & Cheese Strips Dog Treats
Retails for around $9.99. - Dog’s Love Peanut Butter Puff Dog Treats
Retails for around $5.99. - Pooch Perks 6″ Bully Stick
Retails for around $2 – $3/ea.
VALUE
I got 5 items in this box. Also, as stated before, this box cost me $32 originally before the coupon. This made the total $29.97. So if you bought all these items separately, the retail cost would be around $37 (not including store shipping costs). I would say that this box is a great value! As I essentially saved over $8.
QUALITY
Raider liked all the treats in this box, so no issues with that. The 6″ bully stick was also great for her as a small puppy. The toys are where we ran into some quality issues. These toys are supposed to be “durable”, for strong chewers, and made of rubber.
Firstly, with the GoDog RopeTek toy, Raider liked it…I mean REALLY liked it. So much so that she had already managed to chew some pieces off of it within the same day we gave to her!
Secondly, my parents were a little apprehensive about the small size of the Planet Dog Orbee Tuff ball. I think this toy is way too high-maintenance for new dog owners and would require too much supervision when your dog plays with it. Also, it took some finagling to get the sharp plastic pieces out of the ball, after removing the tag that came on it.
Winner: Pooch Perks
So this round was a little harder to discern a winner. PupJoy had no quality issues, but if you’re not getting a box with a discount, the value wasn’t anything to write home about. Pooch Perks on the other-hand had some quality issues, but there was some genuine value and savings with this box. I feel like the value aspect is a little more important to me, which is why I declared Pooch Perks the winner.
ROUND 3 - Overall Experience
PUPJOY
Overall, my experience with PupJoy was fine. I’m glad I tried it (and so is Raider)! Everytime I visit, she has her donut toy by her side.
Also, I had no issues with cancellation or quality. BUT, one big thing I didn’t like, was that the “Build-Your-Own-Box” method takes away from the surprise element of subscription boxes that I love.
POOCH PERKS
I enjoyed my experience with Pooch Perks. No issues with shipping, cancellation, or value. I liked that this was a “traditional” subscription box and I was surprised by what I received. The big thing that took away from my experience with this box, was the quality of the toys.
Winner: Pooch Perks
I liked the traditional aspect of a subscription box that I got with Pooch Perks. I didn’t know the products I would receive ahead of time, which always makes it exciting.
VERDICT - Worth It?
PUPJOY
Things I Liked:
- Quality of products
- Branded products made in the U.S.
- No monthly subscription required, so nothing to cancel
- Created the Helping Paws Program that helps shelter animals find homes
Things I Didn’t Like:
- No emailed receipt or shipping/order confirmation sent
- Choose items ahead of time (this can be a positive or negative)
- Only 3 items in this box
- Got this box a little later than Pooch Perks
Would I try again: Yes, if I want to SHOP for my dog products.
Bottom Line: If you prefer seeing what you get in your subscription box, I would try this one out.
POOCH PERKS
Things I Liked:
- 5 items in this box
- Sent order and shipping confirmation email
- Received this box first in the mail
- Branded products made in the U.S.
- Donates a portion of my monthly subscription to dog rescue organizations.
Things I Didn’t Like:
- Quality of the toys left much to be desired
Would I try again: Yes
Bottom Line: If you are looking for a great value dog subscription box to try out, this will probably be your go-to.
Overall Winner: Pooch Perks
Let me know which doggie subscription box you would go with in the comments! And as always, please follow me on my social media channels. I’d love to connect with you!
Have you checked out the previous Showdown featuring the Ultimate Plus-Size Subscription boxes Stitch Fix, Dia & Co, Stylogic, & Nadine West?!
*Disclaimer: My opinion of these products are always 100% truthful! The views/opinions expressed on this post are that of my own, derived from my own personal research and in no way is meant to be a negative or defamatory reflection on any company mentioned herein. Also, my experience may differ from yours.
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