Melissa & Doug Black Lab - Plush

As part of my job I visit schools to teach children about looking after dogs and staying safe around dogs (including greeting a dog appropriately and behaviour around dogs that are eating, in their bed, etc.). I had a border collie (of unknown brand!) helping me out, but poor Shep got a few holes in his belly and was bleeding polystyrene 'beans', plus was a bit bulky for getting on the bus, so he has now gone into retirement.Patch is the new pup, and is absolutely fantastic. My only concern is that being predominantly white he might get grubby, then I will have to test how well he washes up. But it is a very realistic Jack Russell size, shape and colour - he even has dark rings around his eyes - and I have been stopped and asked 'is that real?' even by adults - personally I think that, although realistic, it's still fairly obviously a toy! It has a very solidly stuffed body and a stiff wire frame, despite other reviews I find mine doesn't pose well and pings back into the standing shape but I am happy with that.If I'm nit picking one of the seams along a back paw wasn't finished properly, but it was such a tiny fault as to be unnoticeable.This is not really a toy to snuggle up in bed with, but if you are after a realistic looking toy dog you won't go far wrong with one of Melissa and Doug's.

My 8 year old daughter chose this when she wasn't allowed a real puppy for her birthday. I have to admit I fully expected him to be a bit rubbish but he's actually pretty great and the daughter loves him. It's not your average soft toy as it doesn't bend and can't really snuggle but it's a brilliant fake dog! He doesn't chew the furniture, doesn't need walking and he only eats pom poms so he's very cheap to run. He only needs the Amazon box for a bed too. I do think he is well made with nice sturdy legs and after 2 months of being taken all over the place and played with a lot he's still as good as new. I wouldn't recommend this as a normal cuddly toy but I really would if, like our 8 year old, you are looking for a fake dog that's realistic enough without being creepy.

Lovely dogs , brought them for my nieces for an easter present . Bigger than I thought and packed with care.Beautiful and soft.

I really love this. Being just a fraction smaller than life size, its still pretty big and I bought it as a laugh as it's a replica of our real dog.It's structured with a frame so does stand up on it's own, and it's really soft. We have it by the side of the sofa and occasionally i'll give it a bit of a stroke on the head; it's actually really therapeutic. Yes I am aware of how insane i'm becoming stroking a fake dog, but all in all it's quite nice. (And so the slow descent in to madness starts here....)We have a real, genuine and breathing black Labrador who is still confused by this. She bites it's ears, licks its face and occasionally gives a little growl because it doesn't react to her, but clearly she thinks enough that it could be real. The one we received has quite a fat neck and adopts more the shape of a sheep, it also looks at you from all angles in the room, but has such a characteristic face with a classic lab head tilt, the whole family adore it and it's been a fantastic purchase.

Bought as gift, child loves it. Quite realistic, soft yet sturdy.

Weirdly lifelike! Purchased to be my demo dog in my puppy training classes, he's going to be a big help as he's a good size, stands up independently, and surprisingly has a very lifelike look so will do a great job of helping me to demonstrate various handling exercises etc.

Imagine a teenager seeing a naked women for the first time - this is how my 1+ year old daughter reacts to dogs when she sees them. She has a few "cartoony" soft dogs, but none of them make her as happy as real dogs do. So it was a logical choice for me to buy a life-like soft toy and I must say the reaction was more than positive. She was playing with her a lot yesterday, so I'm happy. The dog itself is really nice - looks a lot like a real thing and the size is perfect. It seem to have a "skeleton", so it stands perfectly even when my daughter is hugging the creature. It's way better than a real dog for me - I like cats way more (and don't like pets in general), so the fact that I don't have to walk it out makes me happy. I also noticed that Melissa & Doug make a 1.2 meter tall giraffe - will probably buy one too. The quality is really good.

My wife's Jack Russell died at 10yrs of age. I bought this to give her from my Grand son and I. It's so like her wee dog and really pleased her. I noticed in one place the fur is a bit short of the joint. The dogs legs are rigid so it can't be posed. But it suited our purpose and helped my wife deal with the loss of her dog.