My Dogs are Not Spoiled

My youngest child is 11. She no longer plays with toys. But we still have a toy box in our house. In it, you will find at least half a dozen tennis balls, a stuffed blue mouse, a stuffed toy that looks like a jack, three small, brightly-colored teddy bears, a couple of large knuckle bones, and other assorted toys - all for the Poodles.

Of my three girls, Abrial is my toy-hound. She loves to chase tennis balls with or without a human participant, plays with toys, chews on toys, hides toys in her crate. She just loves toys.

Delilah only has one toy - a squeaky pink bone from when she was a puppy. She will chase a tennis ball, but she doesn't carry them around or play with them by herself. She is a one-toy Poodle - she loves Squeaky Bone.

Cosette will occasionally chew on a knuckle bone, but she doesn't play with toys. She doesn't "get" what a game of fetch is all about. You show her the ball and she jumps around and gets all excited, you throw the ball, and she runs to it, looks at it, and runs back, as if to say, "There it is! Why did you throw it away? What is this game about, anyway?" She sees the others chasing tennis balls, but she just doesn't get it. Maybe she's fetch-disabled.

What Cosette DOES is steal toys. But only from Abrial. Never does she steal Squeaky Bone from Delilah. Delilah is the Alpha Poodle in our house. She is the Mother to the other Poodles. Abrial might try to steal the Squeaky Bone, but never Cosette. (Cosette would be the Omega Poodle in the household.)

Abrial will be lying in the floor, listening to a history lesson, chewing on a toy. Delilah is sleeping on the sofa. Cosette is sleeping on the floor. Abrial leaves for a sip of water and the second her fluffy tail disappears around the corner, Cosette bolts up from her nap, nabs the toy, zips to her crate, then returns and lies back in her napping spot. Abrial comes back from the water bowl and is puzzled at the cosmic disappearance of her toy. After a search in the living room, she will then wander to Cosette's crate where she'll find the stolen goods. I love to watch this game. It's hilarious.


A few weeks ago while at the pet store buying food for the Poodles, I saw that they had a bucket of Loofah Dogs. I've seen these on the Petsmart (or was it Petco) commercial and thought they were cute.

Because Abrial had not been feeling well (she had a bladder infection) and had been spending more time in her crate, I decided to pick one up for her. But Abrial never had the chance to enjoy her new toy.

Not long after I brought Loofah Dog into the house, he was nabbed by Cosette. But not just to hide in her crate. She LOVES Loofah Dog. We'll be in the kitchen and hear her squeak it. She loves him so much, she has loved off his tail! She sleeps with him in her crate and carries him around. He's her new best buddy.