This week's topic is courtesy of findleylake, who answered my plea for discussion topics:

"Do you have a filthy, tattered old toy that you can't toss because your dog loves it so much?"

I got a big smile when I read her suggestion because just about all my dogs have had such a toy. My first Lab, Alex, had a stuffed tiger that I called his "Friend." I'd say, "Where's your Friend?" and he'd race through the house until he found it. It turned into more of a rag once all the stuffing was gone, but even then he always knew where it was. I still have it around somewhere.

Jack, a Yorkie rescue who died a couple years ago, had a Monster. It was a plastic, inflated toy and the only one in the house that Eddie didn't steal from him. Jack loved his monster because it was his. He didn't have many teeth, so he never chewed it up. I got him other Monsters, but he never took to them like he did his yellow monster. It now rests on our entertainment center, next to the tin with his ashes.

Interestingly, Eddie and Jillie don't have one toy that they like best. Eddie likes anything that the other dogs have. He showed no interest in unstuffed Kongs until we got Lucy. Now he steals her giant red Kong every chance he gets.

Jillie's much the same way. She loves toys, but Eddie always tries to steal them. She makes up for it by tricking him into thinking she wants one toy, then moving on to the one she covets when Eddie steals the first. She's a genius.

What about your dogs?