$11.00 [A Dog Toy the Size of Your Dog]

Betelgeuse has (finally) fully recovered from last week's sickness.  Thank you for your get well wishes!

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A few weeks ago, we shared a room at La Quinta Inn in Virginia Beach, Virginia with my brother, his lovely girlfriend, and their dog, Rigel.  My puppy nephew has gotten so big!

Rigel had this big plush squeaking bunny dog toy that he just loved.  He would squeak it, shake it, hold it, hump it.  I had never thought to get my little dogs such a big toy, but it was super cute to see Rigel and a Rigel-sized bunny locked in an embrace.  So on our way out of town, I stopped into a pet store to purchase Betelgeuse her own big plush squeaking bunny.  Only this pet store didn't sell big plush squeaking bunnies, so I got her a big plush squeaking blue dog instead.*  She loves it, guys.

And so now we have three dogs ($11).

*  I can't for the life of me find a link to the blue dog on the Internet.  It is difficult to come up with Google search terms for a dog toy that is also a dog.  Let me know if you come up with anything.

$7.99 [Lamb Chop]

I nailed it again.

Lamb Chop ($7.99), purchased at Unleash Brooklyn.  Think she's just another sheep toy?  Think again.  Betelgeuse went completely nuts for her.  Squeaking her, carrying her around the apartment.  It's unclear whether it was love or love to hate, but either way, Betel was really into her.

Icarus, who visited while Lamb Chop was in rotation, also went nuts for the little puppet. Icky even took her out in the backyard to toss her around. Unfortunately, Icky also ate some cat poop while he was in the backyard tossing her around, so poop-stricken Lamb Chop ended up in plastic bag quarantine pending a trip to the laundromat.

After Lamb Chop was washed and dried, she went back into the dog toy box.  Betel dug through the box, scattering other plush toys and chew toys to the side, to retrieve Lamb Chop.

Some more squeaking.  Some more carrying her around.  And then the most amazing thing that can happen to a dog . . . Betel punctured Lamb Chop's exterior and out came some stuffing.  Her eyes lit up.  I wish you all could have been there.  Betel was just totally manic -- squeaking and pulling out stuffing and throwing Lamb Chop around.  The more stuffing that came out of the toy, the happier Betel became.  She made the same little Joker face that she makes when she sees a Frisbee.

And then even Lulu, who only plays with toys secretly and rarely squeaks them, got in on the action once the stuffing was out -- pouncing on Lamb Chop and biting and squeaking her.

Kyler aptly observed, "I hope they never actually get a hold of something dead."

So true.

$16.47 [Chewed]

A few months ago, I learned about the book Chewed, which features 140 color photographs by Arne Svenson and "looks at the comically twisted results of our pets' desire to tear, shred, dismember, eviscerate -- to transform -- their favorite toys."  Excerpts from the book were shared to my delight on The Huffington Post.  See them here.

Like the dogs behind the photographed toys, Betelgeuse -- full of either love or hatred for them (we can't tell, maybe it's both) -- methodically destroys her plush toys.  She chews off any tags, removes the eyes and ears, dismembers the limbs, and, ideally, pulls out and eats the stuffing once the destruction is complete.  (I've already discussed her cloud-like all-stuffing BM before here.)  The end result is magnificent.

So, inspired by Chewed, I embarked on my own photography project while cleaning out the pups' toy box.  Unlike Chewed, however, I did not write stories from the perspectives of the toys -- you'll just have to buy the book for that.

It can be hard to appreciate how loved this rabbit has been without viewing the before photo. Despite Betelgeuse's infatuation with him over the last few years, he still squeaks and his stuffing is intact. What is left of his fur is super frizzy, but he somehow managed to keep his ears.

$6.99 [Invincibles Purple Lizard]

There are a lot of dog toys in my apartment.  And I picked most of them.  But Kyler picked this one.

And because his brain is at least one part puppy, this is by far the most popular dog toy in the apartment.  Everydog loves the 6" Kyjen Invincibles Purple Lizard Squeaker Dog Toy.  It has such a hilarious squeak, and it's claim to fame is that it keeps squeaking even when punctured.

Our current houseguest, Bella loves it.

Our prior houseguest, Cheska, loved it.

Lulu loves to secret play with it.  (The photo below has nothing to do with the lizard, but Lulu refuses to be photographed playing with a toy.)

And of course Betelgeuse loves it -- squeaking it, fetching it, chewing it, sleeping with it, whatever.

Cheska and Betelgeuse methodically chewed off most of the spikes in the lizard's crest, but true to the name "Invincibles Purple Lizard," he still squeaks just as good as ever.

$6.99 for the apartment's most popular, least destructible dog toy -- on sale for $5.94 this weekend at Petco.com.

$3.99 [SPOT Skinneeez for cats]

SPOT Skinneeez for cats, Exotic Series, Ostrich

Impulse buy from the drugstore for my overweight tabby, Lola, who loves to play. It is filled with catnip and reminds me of an almost-dead mouse, which is exactly how Lola likes her mice.

Also, the toy (pictured above on the right) is a miniature replica of one of Betelgeuse's favorite toys (pictured below): SPOT Mini Skinneeez stuffing-free dog toy, Exotic Series, 12.5" Ostrich. And I have a deep love for anything out-of-scale, whether miniature or disproportionately large.

The new cat toy is a big hit, with both Lola (who was batting it around under the kitchen table) and Betelgeuse (who I caught carrying it out to the backyard just now). $3.99 for loads of animal clan fun!

I highly recommend any and all of the Skinneeez dog toys, by the way. They squeak, which is a prerequisite for any plush dog toy I buy, but the best part (and the primary selling point) is that they are stuffing free. This is perfect for dogs who, like Betel, methodically destroy plush toys and eat the stuffing. (After she dismembered her triceratops and ingested its insides, she had an all-stuffing bowel movement on the sidewalk. It resembled a cloud more than a poop.) The Skinneeez toys really can't be destroyed. They're nice and floppy -- good for shaking or tug o' war -- and they come in a range of sizes to suit all dogs' jaws, from mini to large, and in lots of different "animals." My favorites are the fox, the hen, and the jungle cats!