Advice Needed
 

I have a problem and I am not sure how to handle it. Jada my little almost 5 year old has only one toy that she has ever played with. It took her almost a year of being with us to even play with it. She was 2.5 years old when we adopted her and she didn't even know what a toy was.
Her beloved loofah dog is getting threadbare and I don't think he has but a few months left before he is going to fall completely apart. I have bought her about 5 or 6 different loofah dogs and she won't go near them. I talked to my vet about it and asked if he had any ideas on how to get her to accept a different toy. He said the only thing he could recommend was to take her favorite away and let her have access to one of the others. I really don't think that it is going to work.
Does anyone have an idea of how I can get her to accept a new toy. I am going to be heartbroken for her, if I can't get her to take up with a new one, when "yellow Dog" (her loofah's name:p) finally goes to the rainbow bridge.

Maybe you can hold it yourself for a while. Just when your sitting and watching TV. No playing with her with it, just showing her that you like the toy and your interest make provoke hers.

^^ i agree, also that would get your scent all over it, that might spike interest. I know Ziggy is never interested in a new toy unless i (pretend) he cant have it.. he likes to chase so thats how i introduce new toys! hope you find a way that works for you two

I know Chloe tends to be jealous, you might use that to your advantage by showing the new toy some attention......causing it to provoke her interest...LOL

Post a picture of it and see if a YT member has one that they may be willing to part with! I know we have loads of toys my babies no longer play with. If we happen to have one, I'd love to send it to you...just a thought.

maybe it is the smell as well as the feel and look.
Could you take part of yellow dog and sew it on a new "yellow dog 2"
and then extend the life of ole yellow dog???

That is a great idea or maybe make yellow dog a new suit

Can you get an identical one? Nala has a favorite "Puff Dragon" that is her favorite that she sleeps with (and humps:rolleyes:) and when it was destroyed we replaced it with a new one she sleeps with that one too.

What if you just got fabric and sewed it around the old toy??

I thought this same thing. Cut up old yellow dog and sew patches of him onto new yellow dog. It might work:)

Oh that is so sad that she never had toys. :( So glad you got her and showed her a different life. Rosie used to have this one toy she loved. So, I went and purchased all the store had. :D When one got bad, we got out another. We would put her old one up and give her the new one. At first, she would just look for her old one but then she ended up taking the new. However, Rosie didn't have any hurdles to overcome either. But maybe try an identical one. It could be worth a shot. And yes, like some one posted, put a picture on here. I have toys all over the place. Some brand new. And I know I have a yellow dog. Just not sure if it is the same one as yours. But I would be willing to send it if it would help.

Attachment 353325

Here is a pic of Jada and her beloved "Yellow Dog"
You guys rock!! What a bunch of good ideas:) I have about 7 of these loofah dogs and two almost identical to this one. I am going to try each idea one at a time for a couple of weeks and see if we have some success. Thanks so much for taking the time to help a stressed mommy.


I don't know why but my pic is not loading...I am at work and not sure why it won't work. I will try to upload it from home when I get off.

Try searching toy drive games too, on agility sites, I was trying to find you a guide, but my coach changed her website. Agility people really want their dogs trained on toys rather than food, and some of them actually have to train their dogs to like toys, if you can find a video or guide that explains some of that training, you may be able to teach her to like other toys. Does she like food treats? you could always start rewarding her for interacting with new toy...

What I would do is either get a toy where you can hide food in it for her and then when she plays with it open it up and give the food. Or if not, just place new toy on the ground and sit by it and stare at the toy.... if she walks near it (click or mark if you clicker train) and give a treat... then if she look at it, give a treat, then if she sniffs it, give a treat, at this point start putting food on the toy (it becomes a treat dispenser) then she needs to push it around with her nose, and give a treat, and IF SHE PICKS IT UP, cheer and jump for joy, and give her a jackpot!

If you need any help with trying this feel free to PM me, I "shape" almost all of my behaviours with Harley, this may help your little one like toys more.

Oh and I also agree with the sewing parts of old yellow dog onto the new one, I did that with Harley's favorite toy until he destroyed the second one, now he likes all his tugs.

Does it have stuffing inside or not? I can't really tell. :)

Can you see the picture...I am at work and for some reason I am not seeing the picture I uploaded???? It is stuffed:D

I had to open it in another tab to get to see it. Ok, I will see what I got!! Hopefully we can find one for that baby! :)

One more question, it looks like it has a texture to it. Not the smooth loofa toys. Is that correct? Opps! Make that two. Lol. They are different sizes too. My girls have two or three different sizes.

...possibly tie, or sew, the old one and a new one together, and then once they have been played with for a while, and the new one has her scent all over it, remove the old one..... Just a thought.

That was going to be my exact suggestion :thumbup::thumbup:

She may be a bit annoyed at first that yellow dog grew a tumor ~ but hopefully she will learn to love it :D:D

:D
I love this idea ! I was going to suggest cutting yellow dog open and wrapping it around the new toy, but like this idea better.

I put some of the new toys in the laundry hamper with my clothes to get my scent on on them. Don't know if you could figure out someway to hold these two together to try to get some scent transfer. Good luck.

Attachment 353341
Here is a picture of Jada and Yellow dog...I couldn't get to load on my computer at work. You guys are so awesome to help me out with all your wonderful suggestions.
I think I am going to try tying yellow dog to one of the other loofah dogs and see how that goes. I am scared to death to cut him apart and sew parts of him to another one.


Lord...l sound like he is a real living thing. Sheesh the things we worry about with these little precious babies.

Aww, Jada looks adorable cuddling with her yellow loofah. :)

I am facing a similar problem with Max, although he likes other toys for playtime. His favorite is his security blanket and friend. It is the Ty Bow Wow Weenie Beanie: Amazon.com: Ty Bow Wow Beanies Weenie the...

He takes it for "walks" around the house after meals or when he is excited. I bought several of them, but he knows the original one that he has had since he was a tiny pup.

Teddy has been chewing on it the last couple of days and now I need to sew up a couple holes on it.

I hope Jada will take to the new toy.

tie them together...

Jadabug is so lucky to have a Momma who will do anything to make her happy!;)

Not sure but, all of the advice here sure sounds good. My thoughts were to remove her favorite toy for 24 hours and replace it with "identical" one just to see how she reacts.

Maybe rub the new one with the old one first to spread the scent...or rub a treat all over the new one to entice her. If she accepts the replacement toy, I'd start doing this with all of her toys...rub a little treat all over them and who knows...she might even branch out to play with other selections there in the toy basket!

Thinking back 29-1/2 yrs ago when my daughter was about 6 months old...she attached herself to a favorite bunny-blanket toy. She had it with her everywhere until that fateful trip we took to Sea World and "bunny" somehow slipped out of her stroller and was lost forever! We did find an exact replacement minus the wear and repairs to the old one but, she did accept it...thank God!:rolleyes::D

Well we have a two headed Yellow Dog now and Miss Priss is sad and pi$$ed at me right now. I am going to leave them like this and make sure she has them next to her every time she is laying in her bed and in the bed with her at night. Fingers crossed that this works. Thank you all for your suggestions:) This little girl has me so wrapped around those little paws. And just look at that sad face:(Attachment 353348

Awww, look at that that precious baby. I looked through ours. Our yellow one is without stuffing. But we do have a hot pink one! :D Hopefully she will get used to the new one. Maybe after a few days take off the yellow and see how she reacts. Poor thing.

Like miabellaamoure's daughter, my son got attached to a shirt. I remember having to wash the shirt every day because he would not wear anything else. But I did it and I did it faithfully. Until one day the "alligator" under the couch needed it for her baby boy. I will never forget his reaction. He sat by the couch, raised the fabric, and said "Alligator, bring me back my shirt!" It was the cutest thing ever. :D But alligator kept it and years later he is in to Aeropostale and American Eagle instead. Maybe poor Jada will get used to yellow dog being gone.

Rosie and Mikki send her hugs and if she wants to try the pink one send us a pm!

Awww that is sweet of you to offer, but I have another yellow one (not exactly like her fav) a grey one exactly like Yellow dog, the purple one in the picture and a couple of other:p surely we can get her to accept one of them.

Totally OT but my daughter was in love with this awful looking right orange beanie baby puppy, my mom suggested I get several of them in case he got lost for this very reason... I went out and got 3 back up and the next day my mom came over with 2 spares!

My daughter never lost hers and a couple months ago I found the bag of the 5 spares! Just donated them she's 12 now...but puppy (the original) is still on her dresser!

It's always a good idea with puppies to get a couple of the fav. toy & alternate them from the beginning I do that with the Zannies Barnyard squeakers

I had that issue with my oldest daughter - "Penguino" was lost when she was about 5 -she still talks about him and gets misty eyes over it and she's almost 10.
I think that tying them together was a brilliant idea! I hope it works!!! I wonder if rubbing treats over the 'new' one will make it more appealing?

Michelle,
That shot of Jada with Yellow Dog almost brought a tear to my eye! I hope so much that she learns to love Purple Dog as much! If you end up having to attaching "parts" of yellow dog to another, I bet you could get two or three made from new ones + yellow dog?
We name Zoe's toys, too; Pink Bone, Ducky, Crinkly Bug, Skinny Guy, Skinny Skunk...
Keeping our fingers crossed for you!