Every Dog Needs a Duck

At Petsmart the other day I asked the dog trainer/salesman about toys for puppies and he strongly recommended this toy duck. 

It took a day or so for our 9-week-old Australian Labradoodle, Turbo, to get used to the new toy.  After all, he'd never seen one before and it had an unusual texture and squeaked if you pushed on its tummy or hands.  

But with a little help from our son, Paul, Turbo warmed to it. 

And then the fun began.  Our clever little fellow had already started to get the idea of "fetch" and "bring it" and we had a lot of fun playing that old game on the patio in the beautiful cool of this lovely Sunday morning.

A good time was had by all, except, perhaps, by the duck, who went flying across the patio stones over and over again.   Paul even had some success in starting to teach the idea of "drop it."  At one point Paul and I looked at each other in astonishment as Turbo dropped the toy on command.  Let's hope this indication of quick learning transfers to housebreaking!

We're all rather charmed by the new toy and my husband immediately named him "The Grateful Duck."  Can you guess that he's a Grateful Dead fan?   

Paul reminded me that our dog friend That Handsome Dog Gus (a big Lab) had one or more similar ducks over the years and that the dog owned by friends back in Maryland have had at least one.  And then I remembered that my friend Leanna told me that her dog Milo had a favorite toy that was a duck that squeaked.  Maybe they are all the same Mighty Duck? 

In any case, Paul drew the conclusion that "Every dog needs a duck!"   

Linking to Mosaic Monday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf.