We have two baskets on our hearth, both filled with toys and chews our poodles like to play and sling around. Dogs and cats can be satisfied with an old sock tied in a knot. Cats are very curious about any dangling oblect and will bat it around much as a boxer will hit a punch bag.
Our dogs really like the soft chew toys. Charlie can get the squeaker out of a plush toy in no time usually. We have an old quacking duck chew toy that will quack three times when mashed. Charlie will play with it and when he accidentally makes it quack he looks around for the source of the noise. They alsways seem to want the toy currently in the possession of the other. They will go to one of the baskets and nose around for something, make a selection and play with it for a while. Then much like a child, when they become bored, they leave it where it is and go get another.
The palying with toys or chasing each other around is their way of getting much needed exercise. We humans could take a lesson from them.
Have you ever noticed that when a pet wakes up, the first thing he/she does is stretch. Suppose that could be a clue to us couch potatoes?
Animals such as dogs and cats have a much higher developed sense of hearing and smell than the human. A lot of their barking is in response to a noise their master cannot hear. We think they are chasing shadows. What they are actually doing is warning the interloper that they are encroaching on their territory?
Dogs and cats mark their territory via "spraying". This is a natural instinct. A veterinarian told me that when a dog hikes his leg on a tree, post or fire hydrant to mark, he is staking out his territory. Notice they sniff first? The vet said the one that can cover the other's scent by marking his on top is trying to show his donminance. Also, the hiking of the leg is to get higher on the pole. The one that can mark highest on the pole wins, I guess.
Pets can play a key role in our lives. They are loyal to a fault. It has been said that cats can sniff out a terminally ill patient and it has bee determined they can sniff cancer. They also relieve stress in the owners in addition to providing companionship. Nursing homes and children's wards in hospitals endorse the bringing of pets into the facility.
In our house, we definitely feel "Poodles are people too."