July 24, 2017

White Dog watched as another toy was modified. "Opal is quite the master," she complimented her sister's work, glad that at least this time it was not one of HER treasured toys.

Opal loves "playing" with stuffy toys...to the point of destruction. For her Gotcha Day celebration she received a supposedly "tough as nails" orange snake. It has a knotted end to chew and tug, has a nubby texture, and squeakers along its body segments.

Our gentle girl has a bloodhound's nose and X-ray sense when it comes to locating the squeakers. Then with a surgeon's precision, she rips into the spot through the snake's "Skin" and works to remove the squeaky, which she abandons on the floor.

Poor Zsofia is heartbroken as snakey loses her voice one segment at a time. One of Zso's favorite morning games is making the stuffy "sing," clamping down on the different squeakers to make music of a sort from each tone. Then she hands it to me to duplicate. It is a game that goes through three or four rounds before we officially start the day. Snakey's "song" becomes shorter with each Opal surgery.

I stroke Zso's head and whisper that we can get a new song-maker when the time comes. I point her toward where her sister, Opal, lies holding the orange toy between her paws. Opal's expression is pure pleasure as she sinks her teeth into Snakey's face and pulls at her lips till a piece of fabric tears away. "How could we deny her such joy," I woo to my Darkest White Dog.