Goodbye squirrel

Thankfully, for the most part, Sophie is not a toy-killer. When given a new toy, she is not the kind of dog that immediately and desperately rips it open to get to the stuffing. Instead, she prefers to give it the head-shake-of-death, and obnoxiously over-squeaks the squeaker. If it's got some fluff (such as a fluffy tail), she also loves to suck on that. This can make for some slimy fluff. Eww.

However, this doesn't mean that such toys are immune to her ruthless ways. She does seem to have a few toys she prefers over others. Recently, her favorite toys have been three identical squirrels that originally came in a hide-a-squirrel toy (unfortunately the "log" met an early end when one of the seams ripped open, and some stuffing tumbled out*). Sophie didn't seem to notice the missing log. She was just happy her little squirrels were still around.

Today, that changed. Squirrel #2 developed a leak. You see, Sophie has this somewhat odd tendency to enjoy sucking and chewing on the legs of these squirrels. Sometimes, this is almost trance-like (and a little weird -- perhaps it's a puppy regression thing?). This morning, the chewing and sucking resulting in the little squirrel developing a hole in his leg, kind of giving the impression that he looked like a stuffed squirrel amputee.

After the gruesome discovery we said a few nice things and gave him a proper burial.

Poor squirrel. Sophie will miss you.


*It should be noted that while Sophie does not actively seek stuffing, if some is available, she will be glad to snack on it a little. Not good for little puggies!