Isabel's Toys

When Isabel, our Chihuahua, first came to live with us, I noticed that she had a tendency to hoard things...especially toys and food.  Whereas initially she would put them in fairly easy to access spaces, she eventually changed her preferred spot to various areas on the living room sofa.  Toys that she was especially fond of were laid out in various locations on the cushions, while food was placed beneath them, ostensibly to hide it from anyone else who might be interested.  While this worked well for her at first (because my toy poodle and Shih-Tzu were both too small to get onto the sofa), the suitability of this hiding place became less so when Prince grew up.

Isabel On Guard (photo by SCB)

Isabel has always had difficulty sharing (whether it be affection, toys or food), but she has an especially difficult time sharing with Prince.  No matter how well she hides food, he can find it...and he shows no respect for her when she tries to stop him from taking it, either.  In spite of her growling, snapping, barking and yes, occasionally biting, he will simply nudge her out of the way and persist in taking it from her. She is always incensed by this, but oddly enough, she becomes even more angry when he steals her toys.

Isabel has a special relationship with her toys.  Every day, she picks out a new favorite one, and will play mostly with it all the during the day and even take it to bed with her at night.  She is especially fond of red toys (which I believe is her favorite color).

Prince on the Prowl for Toys (photo by SCB)

Prince sees toys as something to be shredded apart and abandoned.  The only toys he seems fond of are his football and his soccer balls, and he also enjoys destroying these (by puncturing them).  This means we have to throw deflated balls for him in the yard whenever we want his attention.

Having once been a small child myself, I understand Isabel's point of view, and always try to rescue her toys whenever Prince evinces interest in them.  I have been too late on a couple of a occasions, but many times, I have stopped him from chewing it and taken it out of his mouth, only to find she has completely lost interest in it when I return it to her.

Understandably puzzled by this, I asked her favorite person in the world (my boyfriend) why she didn't want them anymore.  Both he and Isabel stared at me as if the answer should be obvious.

"Well?" I prodded, since it was not.

"He drooled on them," he said, even as Isabel turned her back on me in a haughty manner.

Unfortunately, it appears he was right, because even after I washed them, Isabel continued to snub these unfortunate toys.  My solution was to relinquish them to Scrappy (our Shih-Tzu) who doesn't seem to mind, and to buy her new ones.

Oddly enough, this now seems to have become a sort of pattern.  I almost wonder if Prince just likes tormenting her...or if she does it on purpose in order to get new toys!

I guess only the two of them (and maybe her favorite person) know the answer.