New Toys or Old Toys?

So I’ve often heard other pet owners complaining that their pets will love a specific toy to death, no matter how old, dirty, and ragged it becomes. My friend’s cat, for example, will only play with one specific toy mouse. By now it’s falling apart, but whenever my friend tries to replace it with a new version of the same mouse, her cat refuses to play with it. Sadie has the opposite opinion about her toys. She loves getting a new toy, and usually plays with it excitedly for hours that first day. But once the toy is no longer new, Sadie loses interest in it. And by some method I don’t understand, Sadie can tell which toy is new and which is not, even if the toys are identical.

In the photos above Sadie has two identical squeaky soccer balls: one she has had for months, and one I just gave her last night. She squeaked the heck out of the new one all night and has managed to break the squeaker. So now both balls look exactly the same and both no longer squeak. But somehow Sadie can tell them apart. If I throw them both, Sadie will only bring back the new one. If I hide the new one and hand Sadie the old one to play with, Sadie will ignore the old one and search the house until she can find the new one. If I toss the new one, Sadie will try her hardest to catch it. If I toss the old one, she just lets it fall.

This is just one of those times when I’m amazed at how smart animals can be. She clearly knows which ball is the one she wants at all times. It’s not exactly a useful skill, but I certainly can’t tell the two toys apart, so to me it’s impressive.

This post is part of the Thursday Barks and Bytes blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog.

This post is also part of the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie and Love Is Being Owned By a Husky.