Dog Toys [publisher's letter]

Our male rottweiler, Shiloh, has been gone for many years, but he and his sister, Jesse, were our heart dogs, and we still think of them often. This month’s article, “Toyland for Pooches,” on page 32, brought back some particularly fond memories.

Shiloh and Jesse weren’t big toy fans. Their idea of fun was going for walks, hanging out with us by the firepit, supervising horse chores, and going on adventures in the truck—that would be “in” the truck cab with Jesse draped across my knee in the front and Shiloh taking up the whole back seat.

Nonetheless, I still endeavored to buy them toys from time to time, and among them were a variety of squeaky ones. Well, most dogs love the squeaky toy, shaking it and even tearing the squeaker out, but Shiloh was a different story. If I brought him a toy and squeezed it so it made noise, he’d start licking his lips and then gently take the toy from me and take it to his bed, where he would nestle it into the blankets.

He would continue to take each toy from me until he had them all in his bed, safe and sound. In all the years he was with us, never once was there a tear or mark on these toys. It was quite extraordinary how such a big dog was so gentle, and felt that these were his charges, so to speak.

Not only was he gentle with his own toys, he was not tolerant of dogs getting too aggressive over toys, or in one particular case, a bone. We were at neighbors sitting around their firepit, and suddenly a couple of the guests’ dogs started fighting over a bone they found. Shiloh calmly walked over right into the mix up, took the bone, and walked off with it, as if to say, “There will be no fighting at this party!” He didn’t want the bone; in fact, the host was then able to take the bone from Shiloh and dispose of it.

Looking back, it’s amazing just how un-doglike our rotties were in so many respects, and how incredibly easy they were to have around. I’m so grateful to have had them in my life, and will always cherish the many fun moments spent with them.