Tootsie, an eight-year-old Boston Terrier, commands attention at the dog park! Everyone stops and stares at the sight of her casually strolling around with a rubber chicken dangling from her mouth.
Her latest rubber chicken is a “hockey player” chicken, which is appropriate because her pet
parent, Heather’s family lives and plays ice hockey.
“Whenever we go to the dog park Tootsie insists on taking her rubber chicken,” said Heather, “and carries it the entire time. She has a rather odd collection of rubber chickens, because they become headless minutes after receiving a new one. She routinely decapitates the newest toy, takes the squeaker out and declares it ready for the dog park. Our dog has never met a ‘real’ live chicken, but if she did, she would ‘run
like a chicken’ in the opposite direction.
Tootsie is curious and smart and she adoringly tilts her head in an understanding way when we talk to her. Her ears spin like radars when we say “go” or “beach” as she runs to get a carry-a-long chicken.
We have to keep a supply of rubber chickens in both of our family vehicles. One time, when we arrived at the dog park we discovered that we were chickenless! Tootsie flipped out barking in an anxiety
attack because we broke her routine. She had nothing to carry in her mouth. What a travesty! She acted up and chased the other dogs – so I made her get back in the car and go home.”
Not unheard of, Tootsie purr-furs people food. When there is none on her horizon she reluctantly goes over to her bowl and picks up one piece of kibble at a time, before spitting it out on the floor. She will only eat the rejected food once she realizes that no people food is obliging
her by falling like autumn leaves off the table.
Tootsie is also a discerning eater. She went through a phase of waiting until cheese, leftovers or gravy was sprinkled on her food. Then she’d gently licked the sprinkled food off the kibble and eat the kibble for dessert.
The dog sleeps beside Heather, under the covers, but that can fast become an unpleasant experience because of the ‘Tootsie-toots’.
“We impulsively bought
Tootsie from a pet store,” confesses Heather, “something good dog owners, like us, know we shouldn’t do. Two days later, at her obligatory vet visit, the vet told us that our puppy had juvenile cataracts. He suggested we return the pup, that we had all fallen in love with, to the store and get our money back. I asked, ‘Then what will happen to her’ and the vet said, ‘The store will return her to the breeder’ – probably not a good fate for Toots. So that was that – we were keeping her! As
the months rolled by, she became blind so we took her to a veterinary ophthalmologist who purr-formed cataract surgery on her. It improved her vision!
We must confess that we bought Tootsie on a whim, but she was worth the wild moment for all the joy and humor she has gifted our family.”
A second chicken encounter comes from Bea, my favorite 94-year-old Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales fan. Bea shared that prior to her marriage, her date and her went to the
race track stables to say “Hi” to the horses.
“One horse was kicking his stall, whinnying and carrying on,” said Bea. “I asked the trainer, ‘What is wrong with your horse?’
The trainer responded, ‘He won’t calm down until we put his buddy in his stall with him.’
With that the trainer walked to the truck, reached in, and pulled out a fluffy white chicken. He walked the live bird over to the horse’s pen and put it in
with the horse. Before you could snap your fingers, the race horse became as happy as a screaming baby handed his favorite blanket!”
