I'm not sure that's a better comparison, because the subject of the JD lawsuit, the toy had the exact imagery of the JD brand - not an alteration of it.
It's subjective, but to me the picture of the dog toy in the article looks about as distinct from a real bottle of Jack Daniels as that Google logo example.
There is legal importance in the brand symbol specifically - moreso than the product shape. The correct comparison is brand symbol/mark to brand symbol/mark.