Bananas

Isaac got a stuffed monkey named Bananas from his friend Mike for Christmas.  Isaac grabbed him up right away, carrying him around and making him squeak.  Isaac loves squeaky toys but hardly ever gets them because he usually de-squeaks them right away.  Bananas  has a squeaker in his belly, one in his head, and one in each of his legs.

His hands have little velcro tabs so he can hang on to Isaac's neck. It's hilarious. Isaac loves him and carried him around and chewed on him and got him all slobbery.

Soda Quackers

A friend sent us a care package.  Isaac was delighted to see the UPS driver, of course, and he was certain there was something in one of those packages for him.  The first thing I pulled out was chamomile tea and Isaac sniffed it carefully but says he is not interested in tea.

The next thing was a stuffed duck with a squeaker in it.  Isaac is most interested in stuffed squeaky toys.

Another friend suggested the name Soda Quackers and so that is the name of the new toy duckie.  For however long it lasts.  I figure Isaac will probably disembowel him pretty soon.

Whiskers got a present, too.  She got three floppy fish toys.  They have catnip in them and make a crinkling noise.

He's a Genius!

Isaac got a new toy today.  Well, two new toys, actually, but they go together.

I went to Petco looking for some sort of puzzle toy.  I didn't find what I wanted. 

So then I just looked at all the dog toys and I ended up looking at some of the Kong Genius toys.  These resemble the regular Kongs in that they are durable rubber and brightly colored and you can put treats in them.  However, they come in a couple different shapes and can be connected to make various configurations, to make it more challenging to get the treats out.

So I ended up buying two in different shapes, which ended up costing more than I really planned to spend.  But it turns out to be worth it because Isaac finds them fascinating.

I filled one of of the pieces with kibble for his dinner, then connected it to the other piece and gave it to him.  Only about half his dinner fit in it at a time, so when he finally got all of the kibble out, he was delighted to discover he got a refill.  I should have timed how long it took him to eat his dinner but I didn't think of it.  Maybe I will tomorrow.  But it took quite a while and he was very engaged.

Merry Christmas, Whiskers

Whiskers got a crinkly tunnel for Christmas.

Show Down

I was working on a very fascinating article about mold when I heard Isaac whimpering. So I looked over to see what he was whining about and there was Isaac's Blue Toy (a toy he likes a lot that you can stuff treats in, we call the Blue Toy because, well, it is blue) with Isaac on one side and Whiskers on the other, having a show down.

Whiskers does not even want to play with that toy, but she has been a bit rude to Isaac here lately. Isaac wanted his toy and she was daring him to try to pick it up. So he was afraid to try to get it. Poor doggie.

I had to tell him it was OK, he could get his toy, and he crept forward, snatched it up quickly, and ran away with it.

Give a Dog a Bone

A friend sent Isaac some treats and toys, including this bone from Nylabone. Isaac loves it.  He's been carrying around for two days.

Whiskers got some toy mice, which she has been enjoying.

She also really liked the box the mice arrived in.

Review of Starmark Treat Dispensing Pickle Pocket for Dogs

This is Mr. Pickle, also known as the ickle pickle.

It is one of Isaac's favorite toys.  I don't know who came up with the idea of a toy pickle for a dog, but he really likes it.

You may recall that we lost Mr. Pickle at one point and I couldn't find it anywhere so finally had to order another. When the new one arrived, Isaac was absolutely delighted to see it. He licked it for a long time, then when he needed to go out to go potty, he insisted on carrying his pickle outside with him. 

If you can't tell by looking at it, there are grooves in the pickle where you can put treats.  The only thing I don't like about Mr. Pickle is that it is hard to clean those groves.  Isaac gets it all slobbery and there are little bits of treats in there and it's gross.

But Isaac loves it.

 It is also really durable.  Isaac is a champion chewer, after all, and Mr. Pickle does not even have any tooth marks.

Introducing the Oinky Pig

When we were in Nebraska, Isaac played with all of his buddy Jake's toys.  One of his favorites was an oinky pig, a latex squeaky toy that, instead of simply squeaking, oinked like a pig.  He liked it so much we went to Walmart to buy him one.  Well, actually, we bought two, in case he killed one.

He loves it and immediately learned its name.  Tell him "Get your pig!" and he runs to get it.  The only other toy he regularly fetches by name is his Kong.  Anything else is just "Toy."

He adores the oinky pig.  This may be the best $4.97 I ever spent on him

Cuddling the Kong

Last night Isaac brought me his Kong, but I told him it was night time and too late to play.  So he trotted off to bed, taking his Kong with him.  Later, I walked into the bedroom and saw this.  How cute is that?

Isaac's New Kibble Dispensing Toy

He says "Thank you, Mike!"

Merry Christmas

Isaac is enjoying the new Nylabone toy I got him.  I also got him a big rawhide chew but he's not getting both at once.  He's been occupied with this toy for a good 25 minutes so far, though.

The Funky Monkey

Isaac has a new toy.  It's a stuffed monkey, now named the Funky Monkey because after a few days of being licked and chewed by a big slobbery doggie, trust me, it's funky. 

Isaac usually tears stuffed animals to shreds in a very short amount of time.  They rarely live 30 minutes.  That's why I buy them at the thrift store for 99 cents.

But every once in a while, he decides to keep one.  I don't know why.  He had a stuffed tiger and a stuffed hippo for a long time, though he eventually decided to kill them.  I don't know what made him want to keep them or what made him decide to kill them.  They did not have much in common.  The tiger was bigger than the hippo and the hippo had kind of weird fur.

Both the tiger and the hippo had squeakers in them, which I sewed into them after Isaac indicated he planned to keep them for a while.  He loves squeaky toys but usually rips out the squeakers right away.  But he liked the tiger a lot and he loved the hippo.  Until he killed them.

So now he has a monkey and he has apparently decided to keep it for a while.  He did chew off its nose right away but nothing else.  So I stuck a squeaker in the monkey's face and sewed up the hole where Isaac had eaten off its nose.  Its face looks kind of scary and deformed now but Isaac loves it.

And you can see a video clip of him playing tug with the Funky Monkey here.

Isaac's Top Toy Recommendations

I've frequently said that Isaac is a champion chewer.  He is quite skilled at chewing toys of all types to bits.  Still, we've found a few toys that last a long time and are nearly impossible to destroy.

Kong

One of the first toys I bought my dog, before I even brought him home, was a Kong. A Kong Classic, to be exact. Bright red, firm rubber, shaped sort of like a cone. They have a hollow center, perfect for filling with peanut butter or stuffing with treats.  

Isaac now has two Kongs, the classic one and another that looks just like it except it’s made of ever sturdier black rubber. The black one is known as a Kong Extreme, designed for the most powerful chewers. The reason I bought a second Kong is because in the summer when it’s hot out, I fill his Kongs with a mixture of plain Greek yogurt and peanut butter and then freeze them for a cold treat. I bought the second one so he can enjoy one while the other is being frozen for later.

The first Kong I bought now has some tooth marks in it, but he’s yet to chew off a bite, and he’s had that toy for more than a year. I think I spent about $15 on it and that may have been the best $15 I’ve ever spent. Isaac loves his Kong. He loves both of them, really. Sometimes he takes them to bed with him. He’ll gnaw on one for a while before dropping off to sleep and later I’ll see him snuggling up to it while he sleeps.

They are also great for playing fetch with because they bounce in crazy ways. I throw it in one direction but Isaac never knows where it’s going to go. He likes it best when I put some sort of treat in it. Well, I’d have to say he likes it best when I put part of a hotdog in it. It is one of his favorite toys, though.

Nylabone DuraChew Hollow Stick

Nylabone makes a number of toys that are supposed to stand up to powerful chewers. I bought the DuraChew Hollow Stick toy at the same time I bought Isaac’s first Kong, and like that Kong, Isaac still has his Hollow Stick. It’s designed so that tiny bristles are raised during chewing and those bristles are supposed to help clean dogs’ teeth. Both ends of Isaac’s Hollow Stick are sort of squashed from many hours of gnawing, but he still has the Hollow Stick more than a year after I bought it and still likes it.

The Hollow Stick was supposed to be bacon-flavored when I bought it. I imagine some of the flavor must be gone by now. Since it is a hollow toy, treats can be stuffed inside it. This morning I stuck a piece of hotdog in Isaac’s and he spent the whole morning chewing on the stick, trying to get the hotdog out.

Treat Dispensing Pickle Pocket

I know the thought of a toy pickle for a dog seems ridiculously silly. I was at Petco one day, looking for a specific type of treat dispensing ball for Isaac, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I did, however, come across a treat dispensing pickle. It’s made of green rubber and has little pockets in which you can stuff treats or kibble. Isaac likes it best with tiny bits of hotdog in it, but then, Isaac thinks hotdogs are the most wonderful food in the world.

Isaac adores his pickle. I think it is his favorite toy, with his Kong coming in as a close second. When I bought it, I had no idea how much he would love it. He’s had it for several months now and gnaws on it frequently and it doesn’t even have any tooth marks on it. I think it’s truly indestructible.

My only complaint about the pickle is that little bits of food get stuck in the pockets and it’s not real easy to clean the pockets out. I wash the pickle when I’m doing dishes and use a cotton swab to get down inside the pockets. It’s worth the hassle, though, because Isaac loves it so much.

Taking the Kong for a Car Ride

Once in a while, Isaac really wants to take a toy with him when I take him out.  I dunno why.  I usually let him, though.  I don't let him take toys into the store or places like that, but he can take them on walks or in the car.  The other day, he really wanted to take his Kong with him.  He rode in the backseat, looking out the window, holding his Kong all the way to the store.

Cuddling the Kong

Sleeping with All His Friends

Look at him. He is sleeping on his favorite blankie, with his paw on his pork chomp bone, one Kong in front of his face, and another Kong and Mr. Pickle right behind his head. I think it's so cute when he sleeps with his toys.

Pickle Love

Isaac's ickle pickle has been lost for a while now.  I don't know how it is possible to lose a toy that size in  my tiny apartment but I have searched everywhere and cannot find it.  So I finally got him a new one.  I had to order it online because I went to Petco and apparently they no longer carry them. 

This evening, I opened the package with the ickle pickle in it.  Isaac was lying on the floor, gnawing on his hollow stick toy with a chunk of hotdog inside.  When he saw the pickle, he dropped the stick and came over to get the pickle.

I knew he loved his pickle but I certainly never thought he'd choose a pickle without any treats in it over a stick with a hotdog in it.  After chewing on it for a few minutes, just to get it nice and slobbery for me, I guess, he gave it to me to put some treats in it.

He spent the rest of the night hanging out with the pickle.  When I took him out for his last potty of the evening, he insisted on taking the pickle with him.  He carried it outside, held it while he peed, carried it back in.  He won't let it out of his sight.  He's in my bed with it right now.

I love how happy he is to have a pickle again.  I wish I'd gotten him a new one sooner, though.  If I'd known it would make him this happy, I would have.

Isaac Says the Squeaky Squirrel Makes a Good Pillow

Fierce Doggie

Look at this fierce doggie playing tug with what's left of his basketball.

Hanging out with Mr. Pickle

Isaac's favorite toy is his pickle.  I don't like it much myself because he gets it so disgustingly slimy.  But I think it's cute how much he loves it.