You’ve met Stinky before. Stinky was one of Jamie’s favorite toys and is now one of Callie’s favorite toys. Stinky is a small stuffed dog with a squeaker inside. The miracle (or mystery) of Stinky is that Callie hasn’t destroyed him (or her). Callie has destroyed more than one toy marked “indestructible.” But Stinky is special.
Stinky got his name from granddaughter Lauren’s security blanket, which is fondly known as “stinky.” Stinky is Callie security object. She’s never very far away from Stinky, and often at night she gently “gums” Stinky just before falling asleep. Sometimes, when Callie is out of her crate, she runs back to the crate just to retrieve Stinky.
Here’s Callie with Stinky.
So you can imagine our horror the other day when Callie chewed a hole in Stinky’s butt. What was happening? Did Callie turn on Stinky? Did Stinky say the wrong thing? Did Callie get frustrated and decide to take her frustration out on Stinky? Or did Callie just want to get the squeaker out of Stinky?
Barbara sewed up Stinky’s butt, leaving the squeaker inside. And that seemed to work just great. Callie didn’t seem to know anything was different, and she continued her affair with Stinky.
But then she chewed through Stinky’s butt a second time. Is Stinky just wearing out from all the chewing and gumming of two Golden Retrievers over a period of about five years? Could be.
This time, Barbara removed Stinky’s squeaker and re-stitched his butt for the second time. So far, so good, but Stinky’s just barely hanging in there. We’ll do what we can to keep Stinky alive, because we know how much he means to Callie. He really helps Callie calm down at times. But Stinky’s soft, smelly fabric may not last forever.
It will be a sad day when Stinky passes on, but stuffed doggies are easier to replace than the real ones.
Does your dog have a security object?
