A DOG'S LIFE: TOYS

If this toy looks exhausted, rightly so. 

It's because that little Boston terrier in the background seldom is.

The toy is played with night and day, day and night. Its squeaker has been deactivated, its air deflated, its antenna ripped off. But still, it is tossed down the hall or across the family room dozens, no,  hundreds of times a day. It is retrieved by its nemesis, that little Boston terrier named Reggie.

Reggie loves this toy and its countless ancestors that do and have entertained her since we brought her home a year-and-a-half ago. Along with the orange ones, there are cousins in red, yellow and white.

We’ve had them all.

The orange fellow in the photo is in a state of decline. He has but a few days, if that, left in his career. Next Reggie will rip a hole in the top where the antenna was and pick, pick, pick, until the squeaker remains are removed and she starts eating the plastic. Then it’s goodbye. Rubber probably isn’t recommended for a dog’s digestive system.

We’ll start over with a cousin of the orange guy, and the process begins again.

In the thirteen-and-a-half years we’ve had indoor dogs, we’ve found that although these toys are less than perfect and have short but intense lifespans, they are far superior to most dog toys. Most are just horrible! They are destroyed immediately.

It’s not as though Reggie is a vicious beast with huge teeth. In fact, Brian was recently overheard telling her, “You’ve got a big mouth but little teeth.” It is so true. Her teeth are not just little, they are itty-bitty.

But give the dog an official dog toy, say a made-for-canine stuffed anything and she’ll have the eyeballs ripped out and the stuffing removed before you can say bark. Sam bought her a seemingly sturdy nylon toy recently and probably paid a pretty penny for it. DE-stroyed! Boom!

I’ve tooled up and down the aisles of the pricey pet stores looking for toys that will last. They are not cheap. But they are either cheaply made or our dog has some sort of superpower.

We always come back to these little fellas. They aren’t perfect but they are cheap, they last longer than most, and she adores them.

Is it just us? If you have a dog, do you find it difficult to find sustainable dog toys?