Eating and chewing. Chewing and Eating, Our lab puppy, Amber, lives for these two things. She would LIKE to have US for chew toys, too, but we’re discouraging that. We have to watch her like a hawk, catching her when she makes it through to the stuffing or the squeaker, and trying to eat those. I won’t buy any more toys with a lot of stuffing, but the squeakers are a particular joy in life to her, so those will continue. You can see a favorite hollow plastic bone in this picture. One end is fine, but the other end has collapsed, having a tear in it. She hasn’t been able to pull bits off yet, so it will remain in the toy box (at least some of the time.) *
This is a plastic ball with small plastic soft nubs sticking out all over it. It has a squeaker and Amber loves it. She WANTS to play tug of war with everything. She is slowly figuring out that, if she wants us to participate, she has to give us the toy first. It’s more fun when we throw it. So even though she wants to pull and tug, she’s starting to actually give us the ball (or other toy) occasionally.
She likes playing with several toys at once. I have a toy box in the corner of the office where at least once a day I throw all the toys. If she’s inside, that lasts approximately a minute. We’re learning to watch where we step. Here she’s chewing on the softer bone while keeping the harder KONG bone in reserve….
She’s spending more and more time inside with us. She really likes being with her people. She’ll happily stay in the office with us, or stay in her PLACE on the big dog bed in the living room, as long as both of us are there. We don’t have to be interacting with her – just there.
The other animals are becoming more resigned to the onslaught of Amber at least a couple of times per day. Thankfully, her exuberant behavior doesn’t last quite as long these days, so our family is beginning to meld.
*While I was typing, she started pulling off bits of the orange bone. I don’t THINK she ate any of them from the number of pieces on the floor. That toy is now history, but it lasted about 3 months – a record for a new toy for Amber.
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