In the Eyes of the Beholder

I have never been a big fan of toys. Treats, yes. Toys, not so much. Except one ... my friend, Polly. My favorite toy as a young pup was a stuffed parrot named Polly. He was such a popular toy that if Muggsy took him outside to hide him from me, Mom could say, "Muggsy, go get Polly," and he would know which one to bring back inside. And he hides a lot of toys outside.

I didn't even really enjoy playing with Polly. I just carried her in my mouth. I don't play a lot of games. When I first started going to therapy work, my mom would take a toy so the kids could interact with me. I would ignore it. She has since taught me to shake, and I think she has decided to teach me another. I'll keep you posted. As long as she doesn't make me balance a treat on my nose, that's fine.

Anyway, since Polly met her unfortunate end (I chewed off her face, what?), my mom always gets me a stuffed bird for my birthday. I always love them. Well, my birthday was a couple of weeks ago, but my mom was sick, so she surprised me today with a stuffed duck. I was so excited to get it that I didn't even drop it to take a treat. I ran into my crate to hide him and stayed in there for a whole hour protecting him from Muggsy and Fenway, professional toy destroyers. My mom laughed so hard that she told me I should tell the story of the toy that made me turn down a treat. And I do so love treats.

I guess the moral of this story is: You never know what is going to be valuable to your dog, so be sure to surprise them with a special treat from time to time!