My Dog and the Universal Appeal of Ikea

Ikea is traditionally known for making products that are well-designed and that have universal appeal. It seems that this appeal crosses the species barrier as well.

My golden retreiver, Sadie is more of a spoiled child than a family pet. Besides having a free run of the house, she will only sleep in a room with air-conditioning (or lie upside down outside the closed door of any air-conditioned room to catch whatever underdrafts come her way). On more than one occasion, my domestic helper switched on the air-conditioning in my room, just for the dog, as I was returning home late. But I digress.

Sadie, being the spoiled dog that she is, has two boxes of toys. My parents (more specifically my mother) never fail to buy her a new toy or bone when they travel overseas. Come to think of it, I hardly get anything from them when they travel abroad, meaning the dog is more spoilt than me!

So of all the accumulated squeaky toys, pull toys, round balls and other assorted paraphernalia, what does my dog love the most? Chewing up a stuffed round 'football' plush toy bought for $5 from Ikea. She has already gone through two of them to the extent that she regularly leaves a trail of stuffing around the house (especially when she is feeling neglected).

Those stuffed footballs have been repeatedly sewn up, only to be pulled apart again, and the second reincarnation is so bereft of stuffing now that it is barely able to sustain a round shape. In desperation, I asked my sister, who lives near Ikea, to stop by there and buy the dog yet another one. The dog was overjoyed when she got it.

So what of all those more expensive chew toys bought from speciality pet shops? They lie forlorn, undisturbed and pretty much forgotten in a basket downstairs, defeated by the universal appeal of yet another Ikea product.