Heart Surgeon
Blind Goldie loves soft squeaky toys ... but really only the squeaker inside them. She can smell a soft toy no matter where we try to hide it, but if it turns out not to have a squeaker in it, she'll the drop the toy in a second and wander off. No squeaker, no fun.
Her only goal is to rip the squeaker out, chew on it for a few minutes, and then come to us looking for a new toy. She has no interest in the toy itself. Occasionally Goldie's approach is to shred the entire toy, scattering the stuffing everywhere, and then happily crunch the squeaker while she lies amidst the fluffy ruins of the dead toy. The squeaker is like a trophy of some sort. (She never eats it, by the way ... just chews on it until it's punctured so it can't make any sound, then she abandons it.)
But Goldie's more common approach is what we call 'heart surgery.' She chews a very small, precise hole in the toy, carefully extracts the heart -- i.e., the squeaker -- and then leaves the toy behind intact. To show you what this looks like, this afternoon Alayne and I put Goldie on a chair next to one of her recent successful "heart operations." Notice that little hole in the chest of the toy ... it's exactly the size the squeaker was.
The real beauty of this is, we still have a toy left to give the other dogs!
(Click on photo for larger image.)
Such a sweet and talented girl! I just want to snuggle her!
Posted by: Heidi and the kitties | January 30, 2007 at 09:24 PM
What a thoughtful girl...and an adorable one also! I would take her home in a second!
Posted by: Nina | January 30, 2007 at 07:23 PM
Thank you for all that you do!!! This world is a better place because of people like you!! Oh and just for the record we call those squeakers bubble gum for dogs... they are addictive!! tee hee ha ha
Posted by: shelby | January 30, 2007 at 12:51 PM
That is such a cute picture of Goldie! Isn't it considerate of her to leave a whole toy for someone else to play with?
This brought a huge smile to my morning! Thanks to Dr. Goldie and the famous following photographer.
Posted by: Leilani | January 30, 2007 at 07:49 AM
That is so adorable! Our own beagle Della does the exact same thing. Well, not the precision surgery - she's a rip and tear. But once the squeaker is dead, that's it - on to the next. We have yet to find a toy that can survive the onslaught more than 2 minutes.
Posted by: Morgan Skilling | January 30, 2007 at 07:28 AM
You only hurt the one you love!
Posted by: Linda Lee Balkin | January 30, 2007 at 07:05 AM
Maybe Goldie's name should be changed to Destroyer! She looks so innocent in the photo, are you sure she's taking the squeekers out of the toys? She looks like she's saying, "I'm being framed."
Big hug to all,
ginger & Tobias
Posted by: ginger & Tobias (the greythound) | January 30, 2007 at 01:18 AM