Found Toys are the Best Toys!

Why are “found toys” often a dog’s favorite toys?

And of course, the best ones seem to be the dirty, ragged things they find in the park.

 

Benu had quite the toy collection.

You could spot his favorites full of teeth marks and missing eyes, and always the basics: a stick, a ball, stuffed toys. He had two big toy boxes and the rest were scattered throughout the house and yard.

Some were super fun, and others, well… let’s just say it was money down the dog pail that I won’t get back!

 

 

Frisbees were up there in his toy ranking.

He was pretty good at catching them and it made me better at throwing them.

One problem though, he thought a lot of things were Frisbees – cardboard, tub lids, paper plates, pieces of siding – anything flat and seemingly aerodynamic. He even tried to dig up those round, steel water covers in parks because he thought it was something that I should fling.

He interrupted more than one “for people only” Frisbee games. I had to develop Frisbee vision and redirect him whenever I saw a people game in progress.

 

The Flying Blue Squirrel.

One time, he found a filthy blue flying squirrel toy (the canvas type with the nylon rope) at the park. We played fetch with it for about a ½ hour and then left it there for the next dog.

For the next two weeks whenever we went to that park, somehow he’d find the flying squirrel toy and we’d play with it.

One day it was gone so I bought him one, even the color was close to the same florescent blue of the one he’d found. We took it to the park and he’d sort of play with it but it just wasn’t the same; it was too new, too clean and it didn’t smell fun. After that he wouldn’t even pick it up!

 

He also did this with balls.

If he found a ball at the park, it was far more fun than the one I had brought. I think he only retrieved our ball just to be polite and then off he went to sniff something else.

After about 2-3 throws with ours, it ended up being me that did all the fetching so I quit bringing a ball to the park.

Besides, there was always one rolling around somewhere that was way more fun than any we owned.

 

 

He also had a love of big half-inflated rubber balls and flattened tennis balls. I understand the half-inflated rubber ball; it makes some sense because they’re easier to pick up. But the flattened tennis balls…I didn’t quite get that one.

 

Benu’s favorite toy of all time was a stick (whose isn’t?).

By the way, did you know that “The Stick” was inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2008? Yes, that and the cardboard box in 2005. The classics never die.  ANYway…

 

 

The bigger the stick the better as far as he was concerned. Why carry stuff to the park, or handle slobbery toys on the trip home when there’s always a stick lying around?

 

This next one may have been his greatest find ever!

We were walking through a field one morning when he came strolling back with this:

 

 

It was a teddy bear that looked fairly new, as if some little kid had dropped it on a walk with their parents. He carried it around the whole time we were there.

When it was time to go he didn’t want to give it up.  I told him  “Leave it in case somebody comes back for it”.  So we set it up on a rock at the entrance to the field. If it was still there in a couple days he could have it.

A few days later we returned to the field and the teddy bear was gone from the rock. I unleashed him and he went exploring.

I was gazing at the scenery and not paying much attention when he came running up to me with, yes… the bear.

 

 

We played fetch for a while and when it was time to go, I let him take it home with him.

He adored that bear. It turned into his very favorite toy – he took it everywhere.

Benu was always good about sharing his toys with other dogs but he almost got into fights over this one. This was HIS bear. I’d say it was at the top of his found toy list!

 

Then one day it happened…

There were no tub lids, no sticks, or balls, there was nothing to throw, so I tried something new. I folded his black leather leash a couple of times and then tied it into a knot and threw it.

He loved this new game! I cleverly called it “Get The Leash”.

Every time I removed his leash at the dog park he begged me to throw it – and he always brought it back.

On occasion it got gooey – but he could find it in any field of tall grass or clump of bushes that it fell into; and he wiggled not only his little tail but his entire butt the whole time he was doing it. It’s all we ever played after that.

 

So I guess I found a fun toy for him too!

Found or purchased… isn’t that what any toy is about, having fun?

 

Woof!