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Posted on Fri, Mar 25, 2011 : 5:35 a.m.

Animals show how important toys and playtime are to them on this weeks' Pet Photo Friday

By Lorrie Shaw

Zeus.JPG

Zeus, at play.

To cap off your week, we offer up a fun slideshow of pets from all over Washtenaw County.

For this weeks' theme, inspiration was drawn from a reader on Twitter. The photo and comment was a reminder of how many pets retain toys from their youth to their adult years — and how many pets have their favorite toys to play with.

We asked readers to submit photos of their furry friends during play, and with their favorite toys, if possible.

It's always interesting to see what companion animals are drawn to for enjoyment. Most dogs love traditional chew bones or the ever-popular tennis ball. Cats are usually fairly easy to please and will stake out an empty cardboard box for their own to hide in, or enjoy a fun teaser toy or some catnip.

One thing is for sure: there is no one-size-fits-all toy or source of fun that suits pets. In fact, that's a good thing. It's important to be open to what your pet is interested in so that you can help them hone in on their unique strengths, while building new ones along the way.

By encouraging different types of play throughout a dog's life, you'll foster a sense of well-being and possibly even help them live more fully into their senior years, as is illustrated in an article about brain aging in dogs by Karen Overall, PhD. Read that here.

This week, you'll see a Scottish Terrier (a breed often referred to as the 'Diehard' because of its brave and determined nature) playing tug-of-war — a fun game that many dogs love — a cockapoo's fascination with squirrels, a cat with his favorite interactive toys and more.

In continuing our ongoing Pet Photo Friday feature, we invite you to email a photo of your pet to ppsa2mi@gmail.com, any time during the week. Be sure to include the animal's name, age and city or township of residence in your email, and that your photos are 600 pixels wide and in .jpg format.

We put the week's photos into a slideshow, publish and promote each Friday here in the Pets section.


Lorrie Shaw is lead pets blogger on AnnArbor.com. Follow her daily writing and pet adventures on Twitter or contact her via email.