My boxer mix Lally is a ball addict — she’ll chase her squeaky ball all day and when she isn’t playing with it, she’s usually guarding it.
On the other paw, we have my shepherd mix Moose. Moose is all that is lazy — he loves to spend the day on the couch… on the bed… on the dog bed… on the nest by the sliding glass door so he can watch the world… you get the idea.
But every once in a while, Moose gets that wild hair and wants to play. I can tell he’s feeling playful if he starts to give little nibbles while he’s giving kisses. That’s when we turn to Stuffy Man.
Stuffy Man started life as some kind of reindeer toy at the holidays. All that remains of his original holiday cheer are his Santa hat and his little green booties — green booty, I should say, since Stuffy Man lost a leg about a year ago. These days, Stuffy Man is a square with one leg and a hat.
And Moose loves him when it’s playtime.
As soon as I get that little playful nibble, it’s time to go looking for Stuffy Man. Moose usually isn’t much for playing tug, but if I try to take the toy, Moose will take it back — then he’ll give Stuffy Man a good old fashioned chomping.
Today, we added a new twist to the game. Moose and I were sprawled on the floor when the first nibbles struck. Lucky for me, Stuffy Man was nearby, and I started to dangle that one leg over Moose’s open mouth. Eventually he took the bait and started chomping.
After a moment, I leaned over and grabbed the leg — not to tug the toy away, but to pretend I was chewing on Stuffy Man, too. (Seriously, though, there’s no way that toy is going to touch my mouth! But Moose doesn’t know that.) Moose pulled Stuffy Man away, just out of my reach. I grabbed the leg again and brought it towards my mouth to pretend I was chewing on it. Again, Moose pulled Stuffy Man away! We did it a third time, but then I was laughing too hard to keep going.
Apparently, I’m just not allowed to chew on Stuffy Man!