So, I gotta talk about this trip I made, specifically heading towards Care-A-Lot Pet Supply down in Newport News. Wasn’t just a casual browse, you know? I was on a mission. My dog, Buster, bless his heart, thinks every toy is a personal challenge to destroy within five minutes. Seriously, five minutes. Plush toys? Forget it. Rubber stuff? Shredded. Ropes? Unraveled like spaghetti.
I’d tried all the local spots near me. Dropped cash on stuff labeled ‘indestructible’ or ‘for aggressive chewers’. Lies, all lies. Buster treated them like appetizers. Someone, I think it was my neighbor Dave, mentioned Care-A-Lot might have some different brands, maybe tougher stuff because they’re a bigger place. Newport News isn’t exactly next door for me, it’s a bit of a haul, especially with traffic the way it is.
Making the Trip
Anyway, one Saturday, I was just fed up. Sick of cleaning up toy fluff, tired of seeing Buster bored ’cause his new toy lasted less time than it took me to make coffee. So, I decided, right, let’s do this. Got in the car, punched Newport News into the GPS, and headed out. The drive itself was pretty uneventful, just the usual stop-and-go nonsense near the tunnel. Gave me time to think, mostly about how ridiculous it was to drive this far for a dog toy.
Finally got to the Care-A-Lot place. It’s a decent-sized store, alright. Walked in, and yeah, they had a lot of stuff. Aisles and aisles. Found the toy section. It was huge. Overwhelming, almost. Spent maybe twenty minutes just looking, picking things up, squeezing them, trying to gauge their ‘Buster-resistance’ potential. Felt kinda silly doing stress tests on squeaky hedgehogs in the middle of a store.
The Search and the Outcome
They did have a few brands I hadn’t seen before. Found one that looked promising – some weirdly shaped solid rubber thing that claimed to be super-duper tough. Weighed a ton. Figured, okay, this might be the one. Grabbed it. Also picked up his usual food while I was there, might as well. Paid up and headed back home, feeling slightly hopeful but mostly skeptical.
Got home, presented the new weapon-grade toy to Buster. He was interested, sniffed it, picked it up. And he started chewing. And chewing. Okay, so five minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty. An hour later, the thing was still mostly intact! Just a few scratches. Success! Well, kinda. It wasn’t immortal. Took him about three days to finally tear a chunk off it. Which, believe me, is a world record in our house. Three days!
- Got in the car.
- Drove to Newport News.
- Searched the aisles at Care-A-Lot.
- Found a supposedly tough toy.
- Brought it home.
- Buster tested its limits.
So, the trip wasn’t a total waste. Still looking for that truly indestructible toy, probably a myth. But that Care-A-Lot visit did buy us three days of peace. Sometimes, that’s all you can ask for when you’ve got a four-legged demolition expert living with you. The hunt continues, I guess.
