I am implementing a suggestion I found on the web yesterday regarding toys. Consistent with my previous posts, the website recommended limiting the toy offerings but restricted by a week's time. Think of toys in categories of chew, chase, discover, shake - I just made up those labels, but the category parameters are stolen from the website. Chew would be like the bullysticks (eeeewwww). Chase is like a tennis ball. Discover is one of the puzzle toys where perhaps small bits of food are within a maze inside a ball that has to be turned and manipulated for it to dispense the delicacies. Shake is what Snoopy would do to that which a small boy might cuddle... like a Snoopy doll. Actually, they may have thrown in there a squeaky category. Nonetheless, the notion is to provide a selection of about 4 toys per week, ideally one from each category. Then feel free to switch up the toys for the following week. This balances variety with focus and reduces overwhelm often created by too many choices. Plus this method doesn't break the bank!
With Snoopy, I'm willing to pick four toys that she actually likes. But I have been retaught dog toys by Snoopy. It doesn't matter how cool the toy is, you still have to sell it. I suppose this skepticism comes from the flip side of her manipulative nature. If you manipulate, you assume everyone does it. This principle of our characteristics affecting the way we view the world is one that I've been aware of for quite sometime. It shouldn't surprise me that it applies to animals, too.
The irony is that her skepticism makes her display disinterest, which makes me have to give a good demonstration regarding the superior attributes of the toy. Yes, what she is forcing me to do is manipulate her into taking the toy... interesting.
BTW, as soon as I posted the last piece, she laid down in a tired heap.
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