I am sure you have seen the Robot Dogs that Walk and Bark and Do Tricks. Have you seen their predecessors? Toy Dogs have probably been around as long as there have been kids and dogs. Little by little those Toy Dogs could do more and more things that Real Dogs can do. So really, as the Electronic Dogs progress, who knows how far it will go.

These are fun for both the old and the young, non dog owners and dog owners, non dog trainers and dog trainers. They can just be a fun thing to fool with.

If you can not have a dog, or if you want to find out if you have the time it takes to train a real dog, it might not be a bad idea to buy one of the new electronic dogs first. See if you can care for it. I know one of the new ones out will lift it's leg in your home if it is ignored. Some people just are not cut out for all the time a real dog requires. Better to find out on a toy rather than a poor puppy that will be looking for a home without any training or poor training put into it.

Pixie, a friend of mine from grade school had Gaylord, I had Lady Gaylord. Gaylord ran on batteries, Lady Gaylord was a bit smaller, came with a hat, and was more of a pull toy. We had great fun with those toy dogs, Pixie also had a real live Basset Hound named Freemount. He was so much fun!

These battery operated stuffed dogs were and are a lot of fun. They made them in the 1960's and 1970's to do about anything a real dog can do. Most only did one or two things, like Walk and Bark. Some turned Back Flips, some Nursed Puppies (the teats moved moving the puppies as if nursing, very cute and one of my favorites). My dad used to bring these different toys home to my mom, now and again, I got to play with them.

Toy makers made more than just dogs like this. There were pigs and cows and cats and other animals.

I used to collect them. I think the only one I have left is in a storage shed in WI. It is a Sled Dog that pulls a little sled. This is a photo of it I used on our Disc Dog page.

Then there are all the Toy Dog Banks that encouraged kids/people to put their coins in banks rather than spending it, learning to save up.

-- The DogStar Kennel Team
Sat, 12 Oct 2013 13:13:43 -0400