Puppy Toys

When I was a puppy, I had some good toys. My people made sure that I learned that I could only bite toys, not hands or calculators (an HP-11C that survived only slightly gnawed). If we were playing, I had to be careful not to put my teeth on a two-leg. If my people felt any teeth at all, they'd yelp like I'd killed them, then make me get a toy. So now, I can only wrestle for a little while, then I have to go get a toy. I can bite toys.

My favorite toy was the snake. Anne got it at the Goodwill Store. It was a toy snake that was full of cotton and shaped like a corkscrew. Best of all, it had a rattle in the tail. I loved to grab it by the head and shake. After a while, I managed to chew through the cloth and eat some of the cotton, so Anne put it away in a closet. Several years later, I caught her putting my snake in the trash can, so I rescued it, and it still lives in the closet.

My people also got me a wading pool, which I didn't like very much until I got big enough to drag it around the yard. Then it was a good toy. I dragged it between a tree and the fence and managed to fold the pool in half like a taco.

Indoor Toys

Indoor toys are mostly small or soft and don't get as dirty as the outdoor toys. If I want to change sides of the door, I have to drop my toy first.

I have a whole bunch of indoor toys by Booda. There are ropes with knots, ropes with handles, ropes with loops. Booda toys are great for shredding, and for chasing. My people are good at holding toys while I chew on them. Sometimes I lay on my back and hold my toys with my front paws. Sometimes I just pile all my toys in one place and lay down on top of them.

I have a few indoor toys by Nylabone which are hard for serious chewing. The Plaque-Attacker is the best, it's the one I stole from Taku. It's a great Sunday morning toy to bring into the sleeping den and drop next to the bed. It makes a good solid "thunk" when it hits the floor. I also like the really long hard Nyla-bone. It's good for getting in back in the molars and really grinding. It's a good frustration toy.

Outdoor Toys

Outdoor toys are larger and more violent than indoor toys. Anne made some of my outdoor toys by braiding and attaching a rope to some other toys so they wouldn't fall off the deck. I have another Plaque Attacker for outdoors, and a Nyla-ring. I also have a Nyla-frisbee, which I don't catch, but I like to stand on it and move it around with my feet. One of these days, I'll get that bone off of it...

I have a Kong-ball on a rope, that I can play with by myself. It bounces funny, so I have a good time running after it and stomping on it. At our old house, there was a concrete patio, and the Kong-ball was great on that.

I also have a big (16") red ball made of hard plastic. I don't play with it so much on the deck. Mostly I just stand over it and dominate it, like it was another dog. At our old house, I had more room to play soccer with it. I'd hit it with my nose and roll it around the back yard until it slammed into the fence. Bam! Then I'd go the other direction. One night I rolled it into my dog house. That made a great noise! I was so excited! Bam bam! Bark! Bam! Bark bark! I was in my dog house barking and slamming the ball around for several minutes, until I heard my people laughing, so I came out to see what was so funny. They never did tell me.

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