How this octopus dog toy review was made: I haven’t used this product, and I don’t have a dog. I read about forty of the written customer reviews Amazon surfaces on this listing, from across the rating range, and summarised the patterns in my own words. That’s a sample rather than a full reading, and most ratings carry no written review at all. Star percentages are Amazon’s published figures. Nothing here is sponsored. The Amazon links on this page are affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
The most common complaint about this toy is that a dog destroyed it. Read enough of the reviews and you find that a lot of those owners were describing the same thing happening to the same part — and that the part in question is sold on its own.
Almost nobody in the low-star reviews seems to know that, and it changes the arithmetic of this octopus dog toy review more than anything else I found.
It’s really two products
Inside the plush octopus there is a hard plastic ball with a motor, a battery and a USB port. The fabric octopus is a cover that goes around it.
This matters because the two halves fail on completely different timescales. The motor ball is a sealed plastic unit. The plush shell is fabric held together with velcro, and velcro is exactly where a determined dog starts.
One five-star owner spells the arrangement out. Their dog works through the outer shell in roughly two months, so they buy spare shells — in bulk, because the ball inside keeps working fine. They treat the cover as a consumable, which is a different relationship with the product than the one-star reviews describe.
Whether that is a fair deal is a judgement call. But it is a meaningfully different proposition from “my dog broke it and now it’s rubbish”, and it isn’t obvious from the listing.
Two speeds, and one of them is the point
The slower setting is described as trembling rather than bouncing, and it exists for dogs that find a self-propelled toy alarming.
That is a real problem in this category. Plenty of dogs want nothing to do with something that moves on its own, and most motorised toys give you one speed and a shrug. Having a gentler mode means a nervous dog gets a second chance rather than a return.
It doesn’t work every time — one owner reports the bouncing frightened their dog even so, and that the dog preferred the toy with the motor switched off entirely. But the option is there, and it is the sensible place to start.
Credit where it’s due on the other warning too. “Not for aggressive chewers” is printed in large red type on this listing rather than tucked under a headline about materials. Owners still get caught out, but not because they weren’t told.
What owners consistently like
The shape does something a ball can’t. The legs give a dog something to grab and pull, so it works for tug as well as chase. Several owners mention this as the reason it holds attention longer than a plain moving ball.
The squeak. Movement plus sound is a more interesting combination than movement alone, and owners repeatedly credit the squeak for the initial hook.
It suits a wide size range. Reports come from a French bulldog, a German Shepherd, a 65 lb pitbull and several puppies. One four-star owner sums up the material judgement well: soft enough for small teeth to grab, tough enough not to tear immediately.
Rechargeable rather than battery-powered. Mentioned approvingly a lot, which makes sense for a toy that lives on the floor.
It’s not especially loud. The mechanism makes a noise, but owners consistently describe it as tolerable in the same room.
Where the photos oversell it
One expectation gap comes up often enough to flag, and it’s about the pictures rather than the product.
In the listing images the octopus has long legs spread out flat. Several owners report that in reality the legs curl in toward the body, and at least one opened the box thinking they had been sent the wrong toy. Another found the legs too short to play tug the way they had pictured.
Set your expectations from the reviewer photographs rather than the product shots. The dogs in those reviews still seem happy with it — the owner who thought they had the wrong toy says so explicitly — but it does not arrive looking like the render.
The genuine faults
Two mechanical complaints repeat enough to take seriously, and neither is about chewing.
Charging. Several owners report the unit refusing to take a charge after a period of use, one at around two months. A couple describe a related problem: the ball inside opens for charging by twisting, and on some units it won’t stay twisted shut afterwards, so it stops working. Worth testing the charge cycle properly in the first week.
Finding the switch. One owner gave up because they couldn’t work out how to turn it on and their dogs walked straight past it. The listing describes touch activation, so it’s worth reading the instructions before deciding a dog isn’t interested.
Octopus dog toy review: who it suits
Across 1,596 ratings this listing averages 3.9 stars, with 19% at one or two. Those are ordinary numbers for motorised dog toys, which run lower than most categories.
Get it if your dog likes to grab and shake things rather than only chase them, you want a gentler starting speed for a cautious dog, and you’re willing to treat the plush cover as a wearing part.
Skip it if your dog is a serious chewer and you don’t want to buy covers. The listing tells you this in red type, and the reviews back it up in volume.
Check first if you specifically want it for tug of war. The legs are shorter in person than the photographs suggest.
Current listing and price. If you’d rather have a rolling ball than a plush octopus, the motion-activated ball is the other side of this category.
The reviews behind this
Rating, month and helpful-vote count, so you can find them on the listing yourself. No names and no quoted text — these are summaries in my own words.
| Rating | Posted | Votes | What it reports |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Aug 2026 | 4 | Movement and squeak hold attention; agrees with the chewer warning |
| 4 star | Aug 2026 | 3 | Legs soft enough for a puppy to grab, tough enough not to tear; wants longer charge |
| 2 star | Aug 2026 | 2 | Two months in, will not take a charge |
| 5 star | Aug 2026 | 1 | Shell wears through in about two months; replacement shells sold separately |
| 5 star | Aug 2026 | 1 | Two modes, one gentler; not loud beyond the mechanism |
| 3 star | Jul 2026 | 1 | Seven months with a 5 lb dog before the velcro gave; charge faded earlier |
| 4 star | Aug 2026 | 0 | Hours of fun until a determined chewer took it apart |
| 5 star | Aug 2026 | 0 | Octopus shape makes it easy to grab and pull for tug |
| 5 star | Aug 2026 | 0 | German Shepherd; well made and not loud |
| 3 star | Aug 2026 | 0 | Legs curl toward the body rather than spreading as in the photo |
| 2 star | Aug 2026 | 0 | Legs too short for tug of war; too much bounce |
| 3 star | Aug 2026 | 0 | Ball inside will not stay twisted shut, so it stops working |
| 1 star | Aug 2026 | 0 | Hard to find the switch; two dogs walked past it |
| 2 star | Jul 2026 | 0 | Chewer rips it apart at the velcro |
| 3 star | Jul 2026 | 0 | Bouncing too fast frightened this dog; preferred it with the motor out |
Common questions
Will a chewer destroy it?
Yes, and the listing says so in red. What the listing doesn’t say clearly is that the cover is sold separately, so a chewer means an ongoing cost rather than a dead toy. Whether that’s acceptable is up to you.
Is it good for tug of war?
Owners are split. The legs give a dog something to grab, but several found them shorter than the photographs suggested. If tug is the main reason you’re buying, this is the thing to check.
My dog is nervous. Will the slow mode help?
It’s designed for exactly that and several owners report it working. Not all of them — one dog was still frightened. Start slow, and don’t force it.
How long does the charge last?
Most owners describe it as lasting well. A minority report the battery refusing to charge after weeks or months, which is the fault worth watching for early.
Star percentages are Amazon’s published figures at the time of writing and will drift as new ratings arrive. Patterns above are summarised in my own words from a sample of the written reviews Amazon surfaces on this listing, which is smaller than the listing’s full review count and much smaller than its total ratings. Product images are from the manufacturer’s listing. Specifications, pricing and availability change; check the listing for current details.