How's this for gooey?

You know what else I loved when I was a kid? Pound Puppies. Those stuffed canines, with the hearts on their butts for authenticity purposes, were awesome. I mean, how can you resist those floppy ears and googly eyes. Most of mine were hand-me-downs from my sister, but I remember I got a BIG pound puppy for my birthday one year. I'm a big timer, what can I say?

Along with the 10 - give or take - little puppies, and one big mama, I had the Pound Puppies official carrying case. I tried to find a picture, but google images search let me down this time. It was red, tan and flimsy. A puppy's dream.

I don't think my little mind wrapped around the premise of Pound Puppies. But the more I think of it, the more I support them. It promotes adopting puppies from the pound ... and that's commendable and just plain cute.

Let me tell you about what I liked as a kid, though, and now grosses me out. No warm fuzzy feelings from this Pound Puppy spawn. Puppy Surprise.

For those of you unfamiliar with this toy, here's a rundown, best told through the Puppy Surprise jingle:

"Surprise! Surprise! Puppy Surprise ... how many puppies are there inside? There could be three. Or four. Or FIVE!"

Yep, when you ask mommy and daddy to buy you Puppy Surprise, they're not just purchasing a stuffed dog. They're purchasing a dog stuffed with puppies. That's right, a pregnant dog. So the novelty is that you buy your prego pup without knowing how many puppies she's going to birth. I mean, there could be three or for or five! So you basically rip open the dogs velcro stomach to see how many new puppies she's bringing to your world.

Any girl - or guy ... hey, I'm not judging - who had this toy knows that no one got five puppies. Don't try to say that you did ... I'd ask for documented proof. Whatever, I'm just glad the puppies weren't drenched in placenta. Talk about traumatizing ...