The whole family is getting in on the decluttering action. Including Eddie, our four legged family member. All I have to say is that Eddie is a lucky dog.
He was found by one of Stephen’s coworkers wandering the street with no collar and no microchip in the dead of winter, scrounging for food. It took her and her friend weeks to get him to trust them enough to get where they could catch him. When they finally did, Stephen’s colleague fostered him until she could find him a home. We were that home. He was about six months old when he came to us, with his name, and he’s been wreaking havoc ever since.
But we love him.
When he was a pup, he chewed on pretty much everything. Furniture. Window sills. Bones. Our other dog, Toby. (She passed away last summer at the age of 14. She was a rescue, too.) He could be the star of Dog Shaming. Because although he’s super sweet and snuggly, he’s a stinker. At least now he doesn’t chew.
The Vet Says
Dr. Marty Becker at VetStreet.com answered the question of whether a dog can have too many toys. Admittedly, I looked this up after we’d gone through Eddie’s stash, but I’m glad to see that we did what Dr. Becker suggested. Specifically he said, “But if the toys wind up unplayed with and scattered on the floor, and the only time they see any action is when you trip over them, then yes, you probably have too many toys.”
Pretty sure this qualifies as too many toys. Some were actually dog toys and some were stuffed animals he stole from the children. And I do mean, quite literally, that he stole them. He’d slink into their rooms, sink his teeth into one and sneak off to the other room to decapitate or gut it. I considered completing an application for him for the CIA. He could be the first clandestine hit dog.
The Final Five
Since Eddie isn’t a puppy anymore and doesn’t chew everything he can reach, he no longer needs or is interested in tons of chew toys. Plus, an entire basket of toys for a tiny dog really didn’t make sense.
The kids and I went through his basket of toys. We lined them up on the floor and the ones Eddie picked up, we kept.
His favorite is Nala the lion. And when I say favorite, I mean his favorite. Sometimes I feel compelled to tell him to get a room.
He also chose a bone that is bigger than he is and a couple of others plush toys.
The rest got recycled.
This post made me giggle. “Even the dog is not immune.” And that is some fabulous advice from the vet. Probably applicable to more than the dogs toys.
I love all your posts but this one is a hoot! I can so relate! We have a little silky terrier(holy terror) named Corbin and we had to go through his stash because he only played with certain ones. We decided to get rid of the ones that he left in the basket at the end of the day. Now he only has about 6 instead of 15-20 🙂
Too funny!
(Our cat kept stealing one of my oldest’s stuffed dogs when we first got him, and she finally just gave it to him, and now it’s his baby. He alternates between lovingly cleaning it and beating the crap out of it. What we need to do is go through his blanket collection… he only has his baby, but he’s somehow inherited every doll and baby blanket the girls no longer want.)
I can so relate. On top of dog toys, my dog has a leash for daily use, a leash for when we go hiking (so we can stop him from hunting). A collar for daily use and a harness for when we go hiking ( I’d hate to jerk him back when he’s going at full speed while he’s wearing a collar). Then there’s his search and rescue gear, the freebies we’ve been giving, training items, the list goes on. I think it’s probably time to attack the dog’s stuff!
Thanks for the inspiration! I actually did go and clean out the dog’s stuff the other day. Found all sorts of stuff to get rid of. We had a separate water bottle just for the dog. Really? Can’t we just pour water from our water bottles into his bowl on hikes? Does a dog really need his own water bottle?
I do this every so often and the cats to. We have 3 dogs and you can tell there faves from others. They have a big Longaberger basket with there toys in it and I know that every so often we take the ones that are in good shape I take to the humane society for other dogs to enjoy and they really getting them for the dogs and cats.
It’s crazy how much toys they have and blankets lol!! That’s a whole other cup of tea.
it’s amazing that one dog would have so many toys, but true that one dog can only play with one toy at a time – and aren’t some of the best toys found in the trash? 🙂