Getting To Know Your Prey

Barley, a dog, lies on the floor and chomps her new snake toy along the back half of its head.

After the initial new toy zoomies have subsided, Barley will settle into taking account of her new toy. She doesn’t do this after playing with familiar toys, so there’s clearly a need to get the measure of this unfamiliar object. Before her lower incisors were removed, this would be the point at which the toy would get eviscerated, but today her probing is a bit more blunt in its approach. She’ll usually start by identifying the squeaker, as we see her doing here. It’s not uncommon for her to disable it entirely during her first play session, if the squeaker’s plastic is soft enough and the fabric of the toy thin enough that her canines can pincer a hole into it. If the toy is stuffed too full, she’ll eventually shift tactics and start worrying at the fabric with her hind teeth. If I see the toy’s been breached, it’s time for it to get taken away and for about two-thirds of the stuffing to be removed, making the fabric much floppier and thus that much harder for her back teeth to scissor. Any disabled squeakers can come out at this stage as well. Stitch the toy up with upholstery thread and it’s likely to last years from that point forward with minimal upkeep.