Reno enjoyed chewing on the rubber Christmas toy Kindra bought him a few days ago.
It’s red and decorated with the trappings of Christmas and it has a squeaker in it.
Kindra noticed that he apparently hadn’t dis the squeaker yet, so she demonstrated - stepped on it to make it squeak.
The lightbulb came on over Reno’s head and he immediately made the toy squeak. Stepped on it just like she had.
And now, a few days later, he is enamored of the squeak. He’ll gnaw on the toy while lounging in the floor, then get up and mash it with his paw a few times to get the squeak.
(Kindra said that it reminds her of teaching Aaliyah how to drink from a sippy cup all those years ago.
Aaliyah learned quickly, but would always sniff before she took a drink. Sniff, drink. Sniff, drink.
This perplexed Kindra until she realized that she’d had a runny nose when taught Aaliyah how to use the cup.)
You may recall that Reno is the puppy the cat discovered outside or kitchen window last winter. He was about eight weeks old and had been dumped, apparently.
He’s become a part of our family and is entertaining, although his role in the pack often seems to be the bratty little brother to Martin and Monroe.
The three dogs all like to chew rawhides, so we keep a stock on hand because Reno would otherwise chew shoes or whatnot.
A few nights ago, Reno was chewing on the last of the evening’s rawhides. Reno goes about 50 pounds now - far less than the vet had predicted when he was a puppy. The 92-pound Monroe was staring at him, obviously wanting the rawhide but apparently not interested in expending the effort to forceably take it away from him.
Monroe is a smart dog - she figured out how to open the French door ins our bedroom. From the inside.
You could easily imagine her formulating a plan while she watched Reno chew.
In a couple of minutes, she walked to the door and barked, which is her signal that she wants to go outside, and glanced over shoulder at Reno a time or two.
When Kindra opened the door, Reno bolted through it, apparently more interested in getting outside before Monroe than anything else.
Monroe stepped back to let him past, then walked over to the rawhide, flopped down and started chewing on it.