This week, I asked friends online for some help with this request: “Let’s have some fun together!” I encouraged them to entertain us with the tale of their dog (current or past) and their dog’s favorite toy.
I specified: “Tell us about your dog’s favorite toy. What is the toy (brand, style, etc.)? Where did it come from (source, local or online store, did you purchase it, was it a gift, or did your dog win it)? Tell us how your dog played with the toy, found the toy when it was lost, pined for it when it stayed lost, how you replaced it (if you did)!”
Here are the stories these friends told:
Amy Suggars (Ohio) My dog’s favorite toy is a stuffed rabbit that she received four years ago for Christmas from her breeder. The toy came in the mail addressed specifically to her. Despite having lots of other toys (she’s a toy-aholic!), the rabbit is her clear favorite. She carries it around all the time and even takes it to her bed. She will sleep with her head on it! I don’t like to anthropomorphize, but I think KD has always known who sent her the toy, and that has made it special!
Photo by Amy Suggars
Alisha Ardiana (California) Flirt pole is very popular at our house. It is a great way for my wife to bond with our dog, and it also can be a great way to interrupt and redirect if the dog is upset by outside sounds. Pro tips: Keep the flirt pole out of sight when not in use. Be prepared to have extra on hand—our Papillon can destroy one pretty easily in a few weeks.
Bob Hadley (Washington) Oddly enough, baby carrots. The chew toy that’s yummy.
Jaxon Riley (Washington) Lilly has a favorite pterodactyl toy, the only toy she’s ever showed any interest in. Every single night she holds it between her front paws and flea-bites it until she goes to sleep. We bought five of them when we heard they had been discontinued and have been parsing them out when one shows wear. She is 12 and thankfully they are still in use.
Photo by Jaxon Riley
Jill Gibbs (Montana) My second golden retriever, Cedar, had a stuffed cow we named “Cowie.” He would take that cow everywhere he went. He would nibble on him. Slobber on him. Drag him through the dirt. Cowie needed a bath quite often. When I would drop him in the washer, Cedar would pine for his cow. He would mope and pace until I took it out of the washer and was appalled when I put it in the dryer. Once Cowie came out of the dryer nice and warm, Cedar would pounce on him and would throw him in the air as he ran through the house. Poor Cowie was the center of several tug-of-war games with Cedar’s flatcoat sister, resulting in open wounds to Cowie’s hide and much loss of stuffing. I stitched Cowie up so many times that I had to find another cow to replace it more than once. Of course, finding the same cow was not easy. I think I found a total of two in the years we had Cedar. He refused any that were not the exact same stuffed cow that he had grown to love. When we had to let Cedar go as cancer took over his body, I made sure his cow went with him. It doesn’t matter where you go, you will always need your security blanket (cow).
Photo by Jill Gibbs
Amy Shojai (Texas) He loves Tearrible Instincts toys, especially the Covid one.
Donna Weidert (Washington) I lost Jack, my rough-coat border collie, over 10 years ago. He was addicted to purple balls. They were just fairly soft balls with a squeaker, but they HAD to be purple. I have no idea why. We had at least a dozen of them over the years because he played SO MUCH purple ball that they would fall apart.
Amy Cowley (United Kingdom) Finn is 2 and has neurological issues, but he is such a happy boy when comes to his toys. This toy is a football with a handle and he just loves it so much. Carries it everywhere.
Photo by Amy Cowley
Shelly Keel (Idaho) Journey is a toy junkie in general. She loves stuffed toys, squeaking toys, balls, and her Frisbee, but her favorite toy is “Fox.” Journey got Fox as a gift from her Aunt Laurie the week I picked her up from the breeder. Fox is one of those “Kohl’s Cares” stuffy toys you get at the checkout counter when shopping at Kohl’s. Journey will bring Fox to a person, any person, to have him thrown for a game of fetch or to initiate a game of tug. Journey can be found with Fox while she is lying in the yard, perched on the back of the sofa, or racing through the dog door. While there is no squeaker in Fox, he does have a rather long pointy nose, just perfect for suckling on. Journey is one of those dogs who will self-settle while suckling on the nose of a stuffy; more often than not, Fox is that toy. It’s rare to find Journey without Fox being someplace close by! Photo is of puppy Journey lying on her Fox.
Photo by Shelly Keel
Glenda Lee (Maine) Tyler the German shepherd adored his stuffed bear. The others destroyed stuffies, but Tyler treated his like a friend. If we were leaving the house, I always put his stuffie on the top of the fridge for safekeeping. He would remind me! That was the only one of our many dogs who had a deep personal relationship with one toy.
Connie Sagona Petit (New Hampshire) Yep! This one! Not the blue ball, the black one! And yes, he knows the difference!
Photo by Connie Sagona Petit
Kathleen Huggins (Washington) Our first schnauzer, a female, had a red rubber ball with a bell in it. She loved it and it was the only ball she would chase. We played “lawnmower ball” with it. When one of us was mowing the lawn, Misty would bring the ball and drop it just by the front wheel of the mower and wait for us to throw it. Unfortunately, one day she dropped it a little too close and I couldn’t stop fast enough. Ran over the ball and sliced it to smithereens. The biggest piece remaining was about 1.5 inch by 1 inch. We tried enticing her with every other ball we could find. No go. She would bring us that little piece and drop it for us to throw. I don’t remember if it finally whittled down to nothing or it just got mislaid, but none of us ever got over the loss of that ball.
Her other was a “baby” that said “My First Baby.” Not a dog toy, but a human baby toy. She carried it. Never chewed it up. Every night at about 8:00, she would pick up Baby and walk through the living room showing it to everyone who was there. Then she would take it with her and they would both go to bed. Misty has been gone now about 15 years and we have had nine additional dogs of our own and many others we babysat. We got Misty’s Baby in 1998, the year we got her. We still have Baby. Baby’s outer coat has thinned, but she hasn’t lost her stuffing and has no serious rips yet. Our dogs are not destructive. Our Maddie now occasionally carries Baby around, but she’s not bonded to it like Misty was.
My golden retriever Winston’s favorite toy, by far, was a child’s stuffed football that I found at Goodwill, where I later found another toy identical to the first one. I bought that one, too, just in case, but Winston was not a chewer so I still have both of his footballs, which I keep and value in his memory.
