Indy came to live with us in the fall of 1995. She is an unusual dog in many ways, and I have no idea if she was born that way or whether the unfortunate occurrences of her early life caused it, or it is a mixture of both.
We got her from a rescue when she was a puppy. She had been turned over because the landlord had told them, either she went or they would be evicted. If you are going to ignore a NO PETS rule, it is best to do it with a quieter animal that will not grow to be 50 lbs. Once we had her it was obvious there was more to her story than that.
In January of 1996 I bought a net bag shaped like a stocking (on clearance) that had dog treats and toys in it. One of those toys was a squeaky toy cat that was the same coloration as our real cat. We decided that would be a better kid toy than a dog toy and gave it to baby KFZ. The second of those toys was something we dubbed the Punk Rock Chicken. It was made from soft, but not limp rubber, the body like a paper towel tube, two feet merged into one at the bottom, and a bird head on top with hollow spiky “hair”. It squeaked. Indy loved that toy. She carried it around. She squeaked it. She would play fetch with it. She was not one to destroy things, so the toy just went on and on.
In the fall of 1999 London came to live with us.
London destroys things. That is what he does. He loves toys, all toys, and he loves them to a rapid death.
He killed Punk Rock Chicken. It was a dog toy, so I didn’t think to keep it away from him. Hindsight is 20/20. It turns out that was the ONLY toy that Indy would play with. She would not take a replacement. She has never carried around another toy. She has never chased another toy. Nothing. If I want her to chase something, I have to throw treats.
In 2004 we moved. During the packing we found the squeaky cat that came from the same package. We gave it a squeeze and it squeaked. Indy came running into the room, totally excited, tail wagging like crazy. She looked expectantly at us. We squeaked it again. She cocked her head to one side, looking at what was in our hand. She stopped wagging. We offered her the cat. She put her head down and just wandered out of the room. This was more than four years after the damn Punk Rock Chicken met his doom. The cat had the exact same squeaker, but was not the same thing.
I have tried barbell toys based on their similar shape to the Punk Rock Chicken. I have tried other chicken and bird shaped toys. I have tried and tried. No go.
Anyway, here is a photo of the dogs with the toy. If anybody ever sees this toy for sale, please tell me ASAP. We’ll see if the power of the internet can be harnessed to make Indy wag.
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