Play?

 My dogs are spoiled. They have a box of toys.  The box of toys is near their downstairs beds.

Ace likes to play with toys, so periodically, he’ll dig one out and toss it around and play with it.

Khan is still learning what retirement is like, so he watches what my dogs do, and learns from them what is acceptable.  My dogs are warming up to him.  Khan is frightened by unusual noises or movements: introducing toys was not going to happen for a while.

Ace in his younger days, was a player.  Now that his playmate is gone, he doesn't play so much, but when he does, he spins and tosses toys and chases after them, and occasionally, it is ok for Mom to toss the toy for him.

So, Ace had a squeaky toy and he was chewing on it and tossing it around and running 4 feet to get it.  A little while later, Khan got up and pranced his happy self over to the box of toys.  He gently took one out, and promptly put it down.  He went and laid down in what he believes is his bed.  I went and got the toy he got out of the toy box, and gently put it by his bed.  This particular toy doesn't squeak.  It is an elephant that crackles when chewed or tossed, I figured it wouldn't scare him, if he chewed on it.  I went about my business and soon heard crackling.  I peered around the corner and Khan was gingerly chewing on the toy.  Well, this inspired Macho so he went and got a toy and started throwing it in the air and catching it on the fall, and then spinning and doing it all over. Macho puts his heart and soul into playing, which right now is way to intense for Khan. Khan watched from the safety of his bed.  Soon Khan was carrying the elephant around the house. 

Later I let them all out and in through the patio doors. Near the patio door was a red stuffy bone, that is about a foot long and 6 inches wide.  He smelled it, looked at me and quickly ran in.  I took the bone and put it near him.  He grabbed it and pranced around with it.  He put it on his bed and in greyhound style, invited the toy to play with him. He decided he could chew on it and when no one said no, or moved to take it away, he gleefully laid on his bed and chewed and chomped.  Soon Ace came in and showed him that you can play with one toy for a minute and then get another and another and no one says anything. 

We have Kong toys.  They are heavy and are generally for heavy chewers.  My greyhounds love them. Every foster dog has found the Kong toy has managed to do some serious damage to the toy and or their teeth.  Khan found the Kong softball.  Fog had found the kong softball and was in the process of taking the bright yellow cover off of it, before he got adopted.  I looked at Khan, and he was carrying the kong softball all around the house, by the partially removed cover.  It looked like a Christmas ornament hanging from his mouth! He dropped it and it scared him so he ran to his bed.  Ace got up, grabbed the ball, tail wagging, and took it to his bed (nearly 20 feet away).  A little later, Ace moved from his bed to another bed, and Khan, got up, and stole the ball and took it to Khan’s bed.  This was deemed a challenge by Ace, so when Khan was looking for more food in the bowls, Ace stole the ball back.  They stole the ball from each other the rest of the day.

Now when Khan is feeling especially good, he gets the big red bone and chews on it.  The yellow kong ball is missing, it must be under something and I haven’t found it yet.

A side note, the boys are taking turns playing in the yard.  Khan invites Macho to play, so they chase each other, then Ace runs with Khan, and Macho stops, and then the three run together.  I noticed yesterday, that Khan is now inviting River to play too.  While she does not play with him, she does not stop him from running in the yard.  I watched him run in the yard after he talked to River. (boy is he speedy)  River went and stood near the deck and pretended to not notice while he ran a couple laps.  When Khan came in, he found his elephant and chewed on it, then found his big red bone, picked it up and dropped it in front of Ace, trying to get Ace to play.  I think Khan is gonna be a dog that plays!