Posts Tagged ‘dog toy destruction’
Authorized Destruction
Elysa gave Asher a new toy a while back that quickly became his absolute favorite. It was an interactive “Tearrible” stuffed creature with limbs attached by Velcro strips.
He starts right away with the frantic “kill shake” that often immediately dismembers one or more of the Velcroed appendages. Then he stomps a paw on the body and emphatically rips the remaining arm/leg/tail/ears loose and spits them out to the side. This is all perfectly by design and is as rewarding for him to do as it is for us to observe.
Once he gets down to just the body, Asher runs around with it like a prize, usually pushing it up against one of us in hopes of instigating a tug-of-war game over the now-damp stuffed toy.
It is at this point that he begins to take the dissecting a little too far. If we don’t take it away, his next favorite thing to do is chew vigorously at the edges of the Velcro strips and eventually shred the fabric enough to start pulling the stuffing out of it.
Cyndie has sewn up the wounds countless times and worked hard to salvage the body despite the dwindling functionality of attaching limbs after the shape has become distorted and the Velcro less functional. Since Asher loves the toy so much, Cyndie has replaced worn-out ones with brand-new purchases several times.
A little while ago, she decided to write to the company and share her experiences with trying to keep the toy functional. Cyndie offered a suggestion they try making the body out of a tougher fabric for dogs like ours that like to play extra rough.
She received a wonderful response thanking her for the information and was invited to sign up for announcements of their occasional fire hose version that always sells out right away. The company also asked about the size versions we have and offered to replace the bodies at no charge, after confirming that all the detachable pieces are still good.
Boy, did that make Asher happy! And a happy dog makes for happy owners.
It’s hard to describe how much fun it is to watch Asher having such a good time getting the Velcro to come apart with that rewarding riiiiipping sound and the way he loses no time in tossing the freed piece to the side and instantly chomping down on the next rippable limb.
He definitely has the predator gene driving his instincts when it comes to plush toy play. Is it weird that he seems to develop a smile whenever we give him a chance to “kill” his toy?
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A Destroyer
Before I get to tales of Asher’s skills as a destroyer of dog toys I would like to self-report my successful destruction of the largest walleye fillet I have ever been served.
I made sure to put my fork on the plate for reference. Had I known it was going to be that massive I would have ordered the broiled option instead of batter-fried. I made it through half the serving at dinner Thursday night and enjoyed the rest for lunch yesterday. That was a BIG fish. Oh, and delicious, as well.
Now, Asher’s destructive skills extend well beyond his ability to annihilate bowls of his food at meal times. We have been happy to employ the trick of tossing old toys in the tub with a scattering of treat pellets but it has led to him choosing to reduce the number of toys getting in his way.
Yesterday he pulled the stuffing out of three different items. The challenge for us is that his escapades in this realm require constant supervision. When he gets wound up/bored/anxious/hangry/frustrated his behavior often drops down to biting pillows, cushions, or furniture corners.
We need to quickly steer his teeth toward sanctioned chew toys. Then we have to studiously watch for the threads and fabric shards Asher tries to eject off his tongue without pause between fresh attacks of the object of his attention.
Then comes the stuffing. He appears to feel great pleasure in pulling out massive wads of the cottony padding. Thankfully, he shows no interest in consuming the stuff. It leads to some comical gyrations as he works to push it out of his mouth as fast as he is pulling in the next bite he can get his teeth on.
Our hands are kept busy trying to grasp the sloppy clouds of stuffing that show up –some sticking to his chin or getting caught on a tooth– while staying clear of his busy canines.
We are not there to interrupt his project, just safely facilitate his progress and keep the disaster scene from becoming overly gruesome.
With Asher’s penchant for the total destruction of purchased toys, we have added an incentive to employ the advice we received in the obedience classes about alternatives that didn’t come from a store.
He is not allowed to take things out of the recycle bin but we are allowed to give them to him if we so choose. A few morsels of his food slipped into an empty box will provide several seconds of entertainment for us and a distraction from his urge for chewing on unauthorized items.
It feels a lot like an exercise in reverse psychology to me. Allow him to shred some trash before he surreptitiously sneaks off and does it on his own. Instead of getting in trouble for it, he finds out he is behaving as expected?
Whatever it takes to keep his mind busy solving entertaining challenges that don’t consume our life savings is worth a try in my view. We don’t want this dog to destroy our financial future. [I’m exaggerating, I hope you’ll know…]
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Relative Something 