When I was a little girl I used to play hospitals. I had Jemima, my life-sized doll who had trouble walking; Tiny Tears who had trouble peeing; various teddies with a whole host of problems; and our Poodle, Chloe, if she happened to come by. I used to line them all up along the wall (not Chloe) and carefully inspect each one.
I was reminded of my game when I found ‘Little Dog’ earlier today. This is one of Georgie’s favourite toys and while Jessie zooms around jumping up and down after a tennis ball, Georgie is delighted to have ‘Little Dog’ gently pushed along the wooden floor so she can bring it back for you.
Well, no longer I’m afraid. This was ‘Little Dog’ after five minutes with Jessie.
I put him quickly on the top shelf, smuggling him past Georgie making as little fuss as I could.
But I was sad. For a start, ‘Little Dog’ wasn’t even Georgie’s toy it was mine – and he was so cute. Not a dog toy at all but the sort of thing you put on your desk next to your computer to make you feel ‘at home’. Mark had probably bought it for me as a romantic gesture, I can’t even remember now, but heh, there are more important things. I’ll let it go.
Next to ‘Little Dog’ is ‘Pig’, also on the top shelf.
He’s got a gash behind his ear where Jessie threw him round regularly in preparation for dinner.
‘Tesco’s upstairs on top of the chest of drawers having lost an ear a while a go.
A student gave me this cute dog as a Christmas present just after we got Georgie as a puppy. I always start with the intention of not giving these cute cuddlies to my dogs. But somehow they spot them and do the whining thing that I really do try and ignore.
Finally (there’ve been others but I don’t want to upset you anymore than I already have) we have Arundal who was bought specifically for Georgie from a second hand shop.
She loved Arundal and took it everywhere with her for almost two years. If she was getting a bit rough, Mark or I would pick Arundal up, stroking it and say ‘gently, gently’. She now knows this word and will go from ‘teeth’ to ‘tongue’ on hearing this command. But one day we let Arundal down and we weren’t there for him. The unthinkable happened. Georgie took Arundal’s eye out and the stuffing followed. Jessie got involved and here they are looking very contrite on the landing. It was a sad day and Arundal has been in the cupboard ever since.
I’m not sure what it is about cuddly toys and dogs. Maybe it’s a maternal instinct that makes some dogs so happy to carry a pink furry pig around in their mouth. But in my experience the toys always have the same fate. Watch your dogs and never leave them alone with a toy like this while you go out. ‘Little Dog’ will probably never leave the toy hospital and this is a sad ending for one that has given so much pleasure over the years.
