It has been over a year now but we remember the day we adopted Leaf from the animal shelter we did two activities that we loved and knew he would love.  Linda, Allen, and Leaf walked around a local area city lake and we all went to PetSmart.  Leaf loved the walk but especially loved PetSmart. We went wild with buying things to make our home his.  This is when Linda purchased Leaf's very first toy, which turned out to be his favorite toy.
 
It's a stuffed toy animal that kind of looks like a foot-long dog with little feet and a big nose that squeaks.  The middle part of the toy squeaks too but with a low drawn-out noise similar to a tummy in need of more dog food.
 
In the beginning of Leaf's time in our home his toy went everywhere with him, room to room, to his bed, on the couch, to the kitchen and outside as he went to the bathroom.  The two were inseparable.
 
At night and during day naps, Leaf would have his foot-long stuffed toy snuggled tightly next to his body, his arms and feet wrapped around it.  We felt sad at times seeing how attached he was to his toy and this made us wonder what it must have been like for him prior to his adoption.
 
After six months, thriving in his new home, Leaf, now a stronger, more confident, secure cocker spaniel, has spread attention to his other toys.  But even today, his favorite remains the first one we bought for him.
 
We've recently noticed that he has started viewing his favorite toy differently.  Sometimes it appears that he has assigned duties to it.
 
One day we walked into the living room to find the toy dog upright against the window with its nose and eyes peering outside.  Leaf was on the couch waking up from a nap.  Not thinking much of this, we wondered if it had been placed in this position accidentally.  Maybe while Leaf was sitting and watching the world go by outside this window, he had his toy next to him and left it there.
 
Later as Allen sat on the couch sipping hot tea, he watched Leaf place his toy upright with nose and eyes pointing toward the outside and leaning against the window.  Leaf then jumped on the couch and immediately started napping.
 
The only thing we could conclude was that while Leaf napped, he had assigned his most precious toy new jobs -- to be the sentinel standing guard to protect our home and to tempt new dog friends to come by for playtime.  But of course nobody in their right mind would come to that conclusion, would they?
 
We withheld coming to this conclusion until the third, then the fourth time Leaf placed his toy in exactly the same position to take his place while he snoozed.  Now we enjoy observing our little canine strategizer who always finds a creative way to solve his problems and get the job done.