Petey's Green Ring

This is Petey's most prized possession. It is his green ring. You will quickly notice that this is not a ring. It was when it was purchased. Where there is nothing now, there used to be a handle like orange colored grip. They toy was designed for humans to hold on to that part and for the animal to grab the opposite end and play tug-o-war. Hours of fun for both!! Petey enjoys playing that game, but mostly he just likes to chew on it. This is evidenced by the lacking orange handle part.

He bonded with the ring immediately. We realized right away that if the ring ever got lost we'd be in a world of hurt, much like parents of a toddler that has lost a security blanket. So, seeking to avoid such disaster, I went to get another ring. The only trouble was, I couldn't remember where I bought it. I only go to about three stores as a general rule, so I thought I'd just run across it at some point. Lo, these many years later not a single store in Nashville carries the green ring. Believe me, I've looked!!! I've purchased other toys hoping to supplant or at least supplement the green ring. As yet, I have not hit upon an acceptable substitute.

So far the ring has only been lost for very short periods of time. Petey takes very good care of his possessions. He really likes to keep them on the tile hearth in front of the fireplace. Whenever we are playing anywhere in the house, he'll run get his green ring as if to say "I know what would make this so much more fun."

Once when we were playing in the bedroom. I said that Petey needed to go get his green ring, and he immediately left the room and came back with his green ring, quite pleased with himself. Since he'd often gotten the ring during playtime, we couldn't be sure if he understood my words or just did what he always did. We conducted a couple of experiments just to be sure. We lined up all his toys and told him to get his green ring and he did. We would go to another room and tell him to go get his green ring and he would. We are quite sure he knows the name of his favorite toy.

He knows what is his and doesn't much like me or John messing with his stuff much less people that don't live here. One time we had some friends from church over, and one of the women being a dog lover decided to engage Petey in a game. He wasn't wild about other people in his house and just couldn't take her messing with his toys, much less his green ring. He humored her for a moment by half-heartedly tugging on the ring. When she realized that he wasn't going to play, she let the ring go. He then trotted in to the hallway, deposited his green ring and came back to the room with the guests. He had a look on his face that indicated that no one should go mess with his ring. We didn't.

As I was getting the picture of the ring for this blog, Petey noticed.
See what I mean about being possessive...