It seems that every time I start to entertain the idea of a "major purchase" something breaks. You all know what I mean don't you? I am not sure if the universe waits until I finally have enough cash to replace something, or if the universe is intentionally trying to keep me down
My computer is dead, and I can't live, work or blog without one. Did my computer's demise have anything to do with the fact that I was jealously eyeing one of these way cool dog beds/shelves from Pottery Barn that Holly just added to the entrance at the Brown Dog Inn and the fact that I was entertaining the idea of getting one for my house?

What I was really thinking of is having one built. I like the look of the white, but I thought wood would fit better with our house and my dog's choice of mud as a lifestyle. I have already looked ahead into making my garage a dog mud room come mud season . Why I didn't do this before, I will never know. All it will take a little spring cleaning and a gate and the dogs will be able to hang out and dry right next to my office and then I can hose the room down. Really who ever heard of putting a car in a garage anyway.

The good news is, I have bartered for computer service and should know by next week just how dead the computer is. Hopefully I will be able to retrieve the hard drive and my son will continue to let me use his new computer for a few more days. Either way, lap top here I come.

Now I all I need is a carpenter with a dog who is looking to make a little trade.

Trooper, was terrified of storms when he first came into rescue. He used to get wrapped up tightly in a quilt to help weather them. Now he likes being wrapped in quilts just because he likes it.

A few weeks ago I got an email from a client with the heading 'Odd dog' at the top. Seems Becky's lab Wrigley has been 'strangling' a few of his toys.

She wrote: "I was trying to find some information on the net
about a strange behavior our Yellow lab, Wrigley, seems to be doing
more and more of. First it was with this enormous, and rather
disgusting stuffed animal. We noticed that after he would wrestle
it, he'd eventually grab its neck and suffocate! He will sit this
way for an hour if we let him.

His newest object of affection is a
big lobster toy that he suffocates on a nightly basis. We take these
toys away when we leave, but whenever we're entertaining or watching
TV, eating dinner, playing with his sister, it's back to
suffocating! Have you heard of or seen this behavior before? I'm
not too concerned, and he's still harmless whenever someone takes the
toys away, just seems to be a weird new game he plays".

Had I seen it? Had I ever! Just moments before reading her email I had snapped a picture of Sandy next to my chair. Sandy loves to have things in his mouth, and he sucks toys like a baby sucks a binky. Sandy, self soothes himself, and he can stay this way for hours. I have noticed that he has a few special requirements on the texture and shape that he likes to use as his woobie. He likes plush toys that will form a ball shape when in his mouth.

Here's Sandy with a sheep in his mouth nearly asleep.

I have seen dogs suck on their beds, or have special toys that they get and carry when it is bed time.

Quite a few dogs I know have had their special woobies since puppy hood. I know of many other dogs who treat their toys like babies and nurture and sleep with them for years. When the woobie is either lost or eventually falls apart, many owners become frantic as the dogs pace and pace until they find another way to soothe, or the toy is replaced with a suitable substitute.

My sister's deeply missed golden Belmont had his dodo. The dodo was around for 3 years and it was a simple hard rubber ring that he loved to play fetch with and hang around with. No dodo substitute would do and when the next door neighbor's dog started "borrowing it", the dodo had to stay inside. Belmont would have made a great SAR dog as never gave up a search once he began. I was invovled in many a hunt for Belmont's dodo. The dodo was retired after my niece threw it in the ocean at Pomham Beach one cold fall day for a quick game of fetch and the floating dodo was sucked out to sea. Bell went swimming all around in the wrong direction and they were worried that he would drown trying to find it. My niece stripped down to her skivvies and swam with seals to get it back (yes seals and lots of 'em to). After three years of heavy duty dodo-ing, my sister switched Belmont over to tennis balls. She had this to say about that. "After the freezing cold seal incident, I tried to never throw the same ball twice so he would like all tennis balls equally, and not just a ratty one. We would have like 14 tennis balls around at any given time. We finally went cold turkey on the dodo after he lost it. I think I helped Bell look for that thing at least 1000 times over the course of about three years".

My good friend Holly at the Brown Dog Inn had this to add when I asked her if she has many dogs check in for boarding with their comfort items. "Generally the comfort items are as much for owners as they are for the dogs. Typically owners send items with their scent like shirts and blankets. We get a lot of stuffed toys, some have even sent small pieces of furniture and most recently "scented" socks".

While I can only ponder at how widespread dog woobies are, I would hasten a guess that it is more prevalent with retrievers, but I know many dogs of many breeds who have comfort items. Two of my friend Kathy's Border Collies Tucker and Beacon have long established toy sucking habits that sound very much like Sandys. Gracie, a puggle client sleeps with a night light. It is a ball that lights up when moved. At night she buries the ball in a blanket and goes to fetch it when she awakes.
I am far from an expert on dog woobies, and I don't very think much has been written on the subject, but it seems harmless enough to me as long as the toys do not fall apart and create a safety hazard, or like the bee toy in the movie Best in Show, it starts to run your life.

Does your dog have a woobie?

Photo credits
Thanks to B. Diane Myers for the photo of her dog Trooper and to Becky for her photo of Wrigley and for sending me a really good question.

Checkout Irina Markova and her poodles from the Conan O' brien show for inspiration. Irina performs with the Big Apple Circus. Be sure to notice that the dogs are performing quite happily.

Just a quick word of caution here. It is very hard for dogs to walk on their hind legs. Not all breeds were meant to do this and it takes a long time to properly condition even those that seem to have the knack for it.