We tried it: Dogwalkers Prerolls

As a teenager growing up in Southern California during the transition from “medical marijuana” to “legal cannabis”, the idea that a pack of joints existed like a pack of cigarettes was just a spark of excitement for the distant future. Now the common pack is not just reality, but a multidimensional universe.

Infused joints, king-size joints, tarantula joints, multi-strain packs – the list is endless. Then you have the ubiquitous mini joint packs.

There are a number of reasons why mini-joints have become a preferred method of inflating prerolls. First, the size suits new consumers who may find a huge joint covered in kief off-putting. Second, it’s discreet as you can take a quick smoke break, get that perfect amount of high in minutes, and easily get back to function with Karens. Third, weed is strong enough to warrant just a few puffs these days – I’m a huge stoner and almost never finish a full-size joint in one sitting.

The only problem I have with mini joints is that they get super dry, tasteless, and hard pretty quickly. That’s why quality is everything when looking for the perfect mini-joint.

Enter Dogwalkers, a preroll line of cannabis conglomerate Green Thumb Industries, a national cannabis goods company and owner of the Rise pharmacy chain. While I don’t usually reach for corporate cannabis products when the time to burn, I don’t think it’s fair to eliminate products just because they come from the corporate side of weed.

TLDR: Dog walkers are great. They’re some of the best, and perhaps more importantly, most enduring mini-joints on the market, beautifully packaged with a high to match. The particular pack of Dogwalkers that I reviewed is the hybrid blend called Stay. Each 0.35g mini-joint (there are five in the pack) contains pre-ground Strawberry Kush cannabis, a cross between Strawberry Cough and OG Kush.

First impressions

I wholeheartedly believe that when it comes to legal cannabis, you can actually judge a book by its cover. The first thing I noticed about this product, like all of the products I’ve reviewed over my years in the industry, is its aesthetics.

The outer packaging is a dark green matte texture that is smooth to the touch in your hands. The golden lettering is reminiscent of an Eddie Bauer look from the nineties or even Orvis and has a cool, asexual appeal. The smaller tin can inside is perfect for throwing in a pocket or pocket. It’s well made and won’t leak which bothers me with preroll packs. Overall, they clearly put a lot of money into the design and execution of this packaging.

Aroma

Most prerolls don’t smell too loud in the paper, and this is no exception. As opposed to smelly prerolls, I think the best way to pre-test a preroll is to do a so-called “dry hit” where you take a drag of the joint unlit.

The dry hit was pleasant, subtle, and overall flavorful. The dominant terpenes really taste fruity, pine-like, and a little bit spicy, which is a sign of a good, dry hit.

Appearance

Dog walkers are well made, taught, and feel strong. It seemed to burn evenly on the first puff and I was impressed with the structural integrity throughout the smoking experience.

taste

Fruity notes are in the foreground of a profile that actually tasted like strawberries with a tart, lemony finish. Another way to judge the taste in joints is when the taste lingers for a while after you exhale and the luscious strawberry lemonade taste definitely lingers. Strawberry Cough can often be a harsh smoke so it was nice to see this Strawberry Kush got all the strawberries and no cough.

effectiveness

These joints are extremely effective at getting you high really fast, and that’s exactly what they were designed for. I actually smoked the mini-joint in three separate sessions which really says a lot for its potency given that it’s such a small preroll.

The high feels like a mix of lime, caryophyllene, and myrcene – uplifting, anxiety-relieving, and ultimately relaxing – which would make sense given the crossing of Strawberry Cough and OG Kush strains.

experience

In keeping with Dogwalker’s discretion, I smoked the joint outside after crawling out the window of my nursery in my mother’s house. (I stayed there for the weekend.) I got up enough of a couple of brothels and climbed back through the window. The whole thing took about two minutes in total, which was great because it looks strange to someone my age sneaking through the windows to smoke weed.

I use grass to work a lot so I like to see products flow into my creativity and writing process. This is actually a really good joint to work with as you will feel encouraged enough to be productive but not get bogged down by fear or couch lock. I think a lot of the creative work goes into overcoming all of the annoying things in existence to get to a point where you can bring thoughts from your mind into the physical world, and this made this transition process seamless and fluid. I had a lot of work and felt sleepy and comfortable towards the end of the high.

Bottom line

As you can see, I really enjoyed these mini joints. Strong flower, chic branding, good burn – they have it all. As someone who’s tried pretty much every mini-joint on the market, the genre can be a bit dodgy. These deliver.

Selected image courtesy of Dogwalkers / Weedmaps