Island of Misfit Toys? No, we have a toy graveyard.

With Elka, we have toys that are "supervised" and ones that she can just have all the time. For the most part, the "supervised" toys are ones that we've gotten to review (like from Zippypaws or a PetsLoveToys box.) Or they're squeaky toys, which are not awesome when people in the house are sleeping. Or they're ropes, which a certain miss has apparently now decided must return to their original thready forms. Or, or or. You get the idea.

So, the "supervised" toys go on top of the refrigerator when she may not have them. This has resulted in a rather sad and desperate collection of things that I haven't yet thrown out because seriously, that's dog blog gold, and also because I feel bad throwing things away. But I also don't feel like I can give them to her most of the time.


Perhaps the oldest toy in the toy graveyard is a Christmas moose that Aunt Alicia sent Elka her very first Christmas (or maybe it was second?).

Mr. Moose has legs that are somewhat reinforced (though not quite to a Tuffy toy level), and the legs would have given her some long-ish lasting play. However, Elka decided instead to chew on his soft center, which yielded the fluffy white stuff sooner.

After pulling out the white stuff myself and giving it to her again, she decided chewing the moose's face off was the best way to play with him. I'd really love to know why she chews on toy faces; it's weird.

We also have a little stuffed squeaky sock monkey. I haven't let Elka go as far with him as she had the moose, but he isn't the slightest bit sturdy. Not at all.

 

Here we have assorted ropes. I bring these on walks frequently, to use as Heel and Recall awards in the park.

We have a little  (as in, fits in my hand) squeaky hedgehog; he isn't in bad shape, really. He is a Walks Only toy, used for Heel and Recall and suchlike.

A bone made out of buffalo leather, bought from a store downtown. I expected it to be far sturdier than it is, really. I guess it isn't too bad; she chewed the tag off immediately (what were they thinking?) but we haven't had any other breeches yet. I don't know what it's stuffed with. More buffalo?

The little dog house from ZippyPaws. Elka has had this in very small doses, and she's quite good about getting all three little dogs out, and then bringing me the house, and the dogs, to start the exercise anew.

Then there is the Sprong toy. I had high hopes for this, truly. Another member on Doberman Talk had one for her nutso girl, and it still squeaked, was still in good shape, etc. Yeah, no. Elka had it for about an hour, and not only did she get the squeak valve out, but she also peeled a bunch of the "velvet" off of it.

We had another JW Pets toy in between the Bad Cuz (as yet unreviewed here) and the Gummy Bear. The chicken....did not last long. Desqueakvalved very soon, and the rubber around it is cracking.

I know you're all waiting with bated breath to see the current condition of the Tuffie squid. Two tentacles left, and we've hit stuffing paydirt. I'm going to sew up the bottom there, because there's still some life in it certainly, but I'm not sure how much. It looks rather like Dr. Zoidberg now, n'est-ce pas?

It's occurred to me lately if I'm to blame for my toy destroying monster. Think about it: when Elka was in  her "teenage" months (9 months to a 1.5 years or so), we fed her almost exclusively out of Kongs to take the edge off of her frenetic energy and get in enough stimulation so that she wasn't bored, excited, and destroying the walls. Maybe now she thinks every toy ought to have a chewy, gooey center? Maybe she thinks the stuffing is the goal, or if she could just get that pesky squeaker out of the toy, she'll get the peanut butter? Maybe I'm reading too much into her motivations; she is, in fact, still "just" a dog. But it's food for thought.