Stuffed Toys

When Kino first came into my life, I was shocked to discover that his approach to stuffed toys went beyond any other dog I ever had.  Sure, I was use to the toys being ripped apart and I was used to piles of "guts" (stuffing) everywhere as well as annihilated squeakers but unlike any other dog I know, Kino had an additional step to his process .  . he was determined to swallow everything he pulled out of a stuffed toy.

This was a concern to me, not just because it was pretty gross when it come out the next day, but I worried about what would happen if all that "stuff" got stuck in his stomach and/or intestines.  I talked to him about it and explained that he needed to leave the "guts" on the ground so that I could throw them away.  I supervised him with the stuffed toy . . . applauded him each time he spit out the stuffing but the second I came near him to pick the stuffing up, he gobbled it up and swallowed quickly.

So I informed him that he wouldn't be allowed to play with stuffed toys anymore.  (It's the approach I have had the most success with Kino . . . using consequences and rewards). Every so often, I would give him another chance . . . reminding him that he couldn't swallow what he pulled out . . . and each time, he seemed even more determined to swallow the contents as quickly as possible.  The box of stuffed toys would get put away for another stretch of time.  This went on for years and I wondered if he would ever learn how to play with a stuffed toy without swallowing the contents.

The message finally got through to him on his 5th birthday.  One of my friends bought him a big green stuffed turtle.  With trepidation I gave it to him  . . . not only did he show me that he no longer wanted to swallow the contents of a toy, he didn't even want to rip the toy!  He was happy to bite on it, slobber on it and "talk" to it.  I took it as a sign it was safe to pull out the box of stuffed toys that had been hidden away and he was equally good with all the "old" toys. He had "matured" so much he didn't try to rip any of them open.  He seemed content to just make them squeak and use them as pillows and occasionally use them to entice me away from the computer. A whole new world of fun opened up for Kino!

Over time, they do get rips and tears in them though. Since I don't want him to be tempted into his old ways by stuffing coming out of the holes, I stitch them back up.  Somehow I began using simple hospital terms to explain things to Kino. When I noticed a stuffed toy with a rip in it, I'd say, "uh oh, he's going to need surgery" and I would place the toy on the top of the refrigerator.  I began referring to the top of the refrigerator as "pre-op" and once I had 4-5 toys that were ready for "surgery" I'd pull out the sewing kit and fix them all up.  It's to the point now where if I say, "uh oh, he's going to need surgery," Kino immediately looks at the top of the refrigerator.  :-)

The first time I sat down with the pile of toys in need of repair, Kino was a little pushy. The moment I finished the first one, he came over and tried to pull it off the table. Not wanting him to be so impatient, I told him that the toys had to stay in "post-op" until they recovered from their surgery.  It makes me giggle every time I say it, but Kino respects that and now leaves the toys alone, until I tell him that they've recovered from their surgery.

It took a lot of time and a lot of patience to help him learn that it's not good for him to swallow the contents of a stuffed toy but it was well worth the effort. I get to feel the peace and calm inside knowing we aren't going to be rushing into the emergency vet for a different kind of surgery for Kino. To see the tremendous joy he gets out of playing in a new way with his toys is an added bonus.