Product review (5 stars): Whirlpool 80040 Washer Agitator Dog (4 pack) ...
after guessing at what the problem was, and taking my wife's advice and looking on the internet for similar problems, I ran across several videos posted on youtube that helped me 1. figure out what the problem was, 2. explain and show what to do, 3. what parts to order; went online, searched for parts, found a place i could live with, chose to pay for shipping this time because I could not make up my mind about what else to order to meet the $35 free shipping, turns out I waited about as long for the actual paid shipping as I would have with the free shipping, so I'll rethink that for the "next" time; finally got the parts, and within 20 minutes had the agitator out, the bits and pieces of the broken dog agits removed, the new dog agits inserted, and the agitator replace; tested once just for fun, and everything works as expected; wife a little disappointed as this Kenmore washer (apparently made by whirlpool, hence the whirlpool parts), almost 18 years old, can keep going a little longer