COW-COW

Rocco is a doggie who adores his toys!  Interestingly, he does not destroy his toys like Cecil and Lily did when they were young (and still had teeth).  Being good hounds, they would take a toy, focus on it, and bear down until it was a pile of fluff and unrecognizable material.  They always enjoyed a good toy, but only until it could be completely destroyed.   Often, that only took a few minutes.

Rocco is different.  He is exhilarated by the very existence of toys.  Rocco carries his toys around with him all the time.  He drags them around, moves them all from place to place and hides them in the yard.  He sleeps with them at night.  He snuggles, chews, mauls, dominates and attacks them with his joy.  Rocco presents his toys as offerings to guests and uses them as a means of communication with us.  In Rocco-World, toys are everything and it makes me wonder if he had any substantial playthings before we got him.

Rocco came to us with a couple of toys from the rescue and of course, we have given him several.  For a while, his favorite toy was a little blue dog he came with. That was followed by “Fox” and then by the beloved “snake” who is nearly indestructible and has been a constant presence in Rocco's daily exploits. 

 Those toys paled in comparison with what was to come.

Last week a dear friend of mine, and her sweet four-legged family, generously presented Lily and Rocco with a whole box of delightful toys.  A veritable plethora of objects guaranteed to provide happiness to small doggies.  Little did we know just HOW much glee was in that box!   

You see, that box contained – Cow-Cow.

 

Cow-Cow last week

Rocco has been in heaven ever since.  From the moment Cow-Cow hit the ground, Rocco has been obsessed with it.  Cow-Cow is unique as he (or she) is a squeaky ball covered with fabric and dressed up to look like a cow.  I have never seen a dog take to a toy with such a vengeance.  Cow-Cow is guarded with the vigilance of the crown jewels.  Cow-Cow is mauled and loved like no other.  It has taken the place of all other toys and consequently is rapidly disintegrating.

 

Above and below - Rocco with his beloved Cow-Cow

 Poor Cow-Cow.  He/she is so "loved", I keep wondering if the Velveteen Rabbit  principal will apply and one day I will come home to find a real, round, chubby cow standing in our living room. 

Cow-Cow today