GiGwi

GiGwi make squeaky toys that you can switch off, plush toys with rubber armour over the seams, and a bedding line called Place. The brand was founded in Hong Kong -- GiGwi say it was set up in 2010 and moved into pet toys in 2015, with the business behind it making children's toys since 1998. This page covers everything of theirs we stock.

The Toys For Dogs

• Push To Mute -- the range worth knowing about. Pull the nylon strap and the toy squeaks; push it back in and the same toy is silent. One toy for the garden and the living room. Sold as two dumbbells and a rubber duck with a plush tail.
• Suppa Puppa -- GiGwi's puppy and small-dog line. Soft plush bodies with chewable TPR limbs and a squeaker, in a handful of characters, plus two all-plush versions with a crinkle layer. Built for small mouths, so not a large-dog toy.
• Armoured plush -- Red Gladiator, I'm Hero Armor and Agent Gigwi Leo run thermoplastic rubber over the stitching, which is where soft toys normally fail first.
• Heavy Punch -- canvas and leatherette punchbags for the dogs who get through plush in an afternoon. Two sizes: the boxing pear and the smaller punching bag with a rope handle.
• Chews and dental -- hard chicken-flavoured nylon bones in two sizes, a softer rubber Toothbrush Stick with a crackle sound, and the three-pronged Multi Sounds bone.
• Fetch -- squeaky tennis balls in real non-abrasive felt, a rubber slinger ball on a nylon handle, and an LED rugby ball that lights up when it moves for walks after dark.
• Puzzles -- the Red Bulb treat dispenser for dogs who eat too fast, and the Hide N Seek G-Box with three toys hidden inside it.

The Toys For Cats

• Busy Bee -- a catnip-infused treat tumbler that drops food as a cat paws at it.
• Melody Chaser -- a mouse with a motion-activated chip that plays recorded animal and insect sounds, so it reacts without you being there.
• Catnip toys -- including a refillable Christmas tree that takes fresh sachets rather than being thrown away once the catnip fades.

GiGwi Place: The Bedding

• Soft Beds -- cushioned beds with a reversible pillow, a handle at each end and an anti-slip base, in five colourways. Note that the colourways do not all share the same measurements: some run 45 / 55 / 65 cm long, others 55 / 65 / 75 cm, so check the dimensions on the listing rather than trusting the size letter.
• Flat mats -- open, no raised sides, for pets who sleep stretched out and for older pets who find a rim hard to climb. One is waterproof Oxford fabric.
• Bolster and hooded beds -- raised sides to curl against, and a covered version for pets who will not settle in the open.
• Reversible Ice Silk -- cool-to-the-touch on one side, warmer on the other, which matters here more than most places.
• Sweet Dreams Cat House -- a semi-enclosed plush cave with a perch on the roof.

How To Size A Bed

Measure your pet asleep in their favourite position, not standing, and add a few centimetres. A pet who sprawls wants a flat mat; one who curls up tight wants a bolster or a hooded bed. Watch how yours actually sleeps for a few nights before you choose -- most people guess wrong.

The Grooming Brushes

• Self-cleaning slicker -- fine pins for medium and long coats, with a button that releases the trapped hair. The most effective on a matting coat, and the one to use the lightest pressure with.
• Long tapered bristled brush -- soft rubber bristles long enough for most coats, wet or dry.
• Soothing massage bath brush -- the shortest bristles, for short and curly coats and for working shampoo in at bath time.

Good To Know

• No toy is indestructible, whatever it is made of. Check a toy over before each session and throw it out once it splits, frays or starts shedding pieces -- swallowed fragments cause blockages.
• Match the toy to the chewer, not just the dog's weight. A determined power chewer will get through plush, canvas and rubber alike, and those dogs need toys taken away between supervised sessions.
• A ball must be too big to fit past the back of your dog's tongue. Balls are the most common choking object in dogs.
• Dental toys help with soft plaque. They do not replace brushing or a vet dental, and hard nylon chews are the ones most often linked to fractured teeth.
• Catnip does not work on every cat -- roughly two thirds respond, the trait is inherited, and very young kittens usually show nothing.
• The battery toys -- the LED ball and the Melody Chaser -- are not chew toys. Bin them the moment the shell opens, because a swallowed button cell is an emergency vet visit.
• Wash bedding every week or two on a cool cycle and air dry it. Hot washes shrink covers and flatten filling.
• None of this is a children's toy. Keep it all with the pet's things.