Is an Umbrella a Dog Toy?

Last night, Emme was fascinated by something on our kitchen table. She would stand up on her hind legs by my chair and strain to see the top of the table. Then she would whine. I had no idea what she wanted but I lifted her up so she could see that there was nothing on the table for dogs. In addition to the table runner, there was a Good Housekeeping magazine that had just come in the mail, two to-do lists, a black folding Tote's umbrella, and Ken's watch that needed to go in for repairs. I couldn't imagine what was interesting her.

I went back to the living room to watch the Olympics. Emme stayed in the kitchen and whined. After a while, I decided that I would just take Emme out on the porch to get her away from the kitchen table. So Emme and I sat on the porch in the cool dark for a while. When we came back inside, Emme went right back to the table again.

By then Ken got involved. He put each item from the table down on the floor to show Emme that there was nothing she would be interested in: the magazine, the umbrella (which was folded up into a cylinder about 6 inches long and two inches wide), the shopping lists, and the watch. No sooner had he put the umbrella on the floor, Emme grabbed the umbrella and ran into the dining room and under the dining room table. We stood there amazed. What did she think the umbrella was?

We took it away from Emme and put it on top of the dining room table. Emme sat by the dining room table and whined. Some how she had decided that the umbrella was a puppy toy and it should be hers. Finally, we decided to call it a night and go to bed. Ken took the dogs outside and I hid the umbrella in the laundry room. We got to bed without incident and this morning, Emme seems to have forgotten about her new favorite toy. What a goofy pup!