Dog Didn't Make Little Green Apples...

Jake just loooooves his fresh fruit. I try, I really do, to pick up all the fruit that the evil serpent has dropped from the trees to tempt Jake, but there's so much of it and there are 3 trees--

He eats them, but I think he carries them around more than the time he spends munching. And there won't be a toothmark on one until he's good and ready to crunch it up and swallow it, stem and seeds and all. (Waste not, want not.)

There's also a pear tree out there that seems to have a lot of fruit this year. Last year, it had only a little, and the dogs and birds got most of it. None of it's ripe yet, but many are dropping onto the ground. Yesterday I tossed Jake's squeaky in that direction during our 2-3-times daily squeaky-fetch experience, and he picked up a pear and brought it back instead of the squeaky. And those of you who know Jake know how he feels about squeakies!
The Duplex by Glenn McCoy

The Duplex Aug 7, 2003, Universal Press Syndicate

So we played fetch with that until I lost interest, then he ate the pear. Then he got another one. I had to clear every piece of fruit from the ground around the whole yard, and then had to beg, before he went back to his squeaky.

Today, I was attempting to do some yard work. The squeaky was out and about. Tika's Toy was out and about. Tika's Toy kept reappearing to have me play tug of war with it. The squeaky kept reappearing to be tossed across the yard. Then, one time, I tossed the squeaky and an apple came back.

Same thing, no teethmarks. Jake dropped it in front of me, wagging his tail, looking expectantly at it and then at me in exactly the same manner that he does when asking for the squeaky to be thrown. So we played apple for a while, until I got bored, then he ate it.

More convenient than having to give up the toy for it to be put away, I suppose.