The Purple Toy

"Go get your purple toy."  When I say these words, our dog is overcome with joy.  

She will look at me, cock her ears and wag her stub of a tail.

Then she will dash through the house in a mad frenzy, searching every room on the main floor, or racing down the stairs to check our lower level.  Sometimes she comes back looking puzzled.  I send her off again with the sentence, "Go find it - bring me your purple toy.”  Usually she will come back with it.

Our dog would not win any awards for obedience. She knows all of her commands, but quite frequently she will decide it is worth the consequence to not “stay” or “come” when told.  Especially if a deer is nearby. She does have a considerable grasp of the English language though.

“Are you hungry? Is it dinner time? Ready to eat?” These are all phrases that she comprehends, even if they are spoken without inflection and at any time of the day. The human members of my family will sometimes ask each other, “Have you F- E- D the D - O - G?”  But it would seem that our dog has learned to spell - although I suspect that if we substitute the wrong letters for the words, she might still think we are spelling about her dinner.

What is special about the purple toy? It is made of indestructible rubber - apparently deliciously chewable, with a hollow core that can hold some kibble or a smear of peanut butter. It slurps and smacks as it is being chewed, and must be challenged for hours to give up that last little taste of peanut butter.  We have bought other similar dog toys over the years - but none seem just as special as this one.  Unfortunately, we no longer remember the make of this dog toy, and we have been unable to find a replacement. It is amazing it has held up as well as it has for almost a dozen years - I just hope it never gets lost!

Sometimes the dog will bring us her toy without being asked.  If I open the peanut butter jar when she is around, off she goes on her mad dash.  If she can't locate the purple toy, she sometimes returns with one of the hollow marrow-bones that we have given her.  She stands there with a pleading look in her eyes, until I hold out my palm and she delivers it right to my hand. 

Then she begins to salivate, as she waits for me to fill the center with peanut butter.

It is fun to see her so happy.  

In a September post, I mentioned we needed to buy a new dog bed.  I think she is pretty happy with the one we purchased!

Have you ever seen a dog toy exactly like this one?  

We have had this purple dog toy for over a decade - and don't remember where we bought it.

Any idea where we could buy another one?

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