Patent ID: 8205578

Claim:
An animal toy, including (a) a center; (b) a compressibly elastically deformable hollow thin-walled elastomer core sealingly circumscribing said center and including (i) an exterior including a first surface and a second surface, (ii) an outer wall less than about eight millimeters thick, and (iii) points on said exterior at varying distances from the center; (c) a fabric cover affixed to said second surface of said exterior of said core and having a selected thickness, the ratio of the thickness of said fabric cover to the thickness of said wall being in the range of 1:6 to 1:0.15; (d) at least one elongate edge of material extending on said exterior as a line of demarcation to separate said exterior into at least two areas, a primary area including at least said first surface and a secondary area including said secondary area and at least a portion of said fabric cover; and, (e) a squeaker including a housing and a reed mounted in said housing to produce sound when air passes through said housing and over said reed; (f) a substantially rigid second housing circumscribing said squeaker and embedded within said outer wall such that said second housing and said squeaker are spaced inwardly away from said exterior; and, (g) an air conduit extending from said exterior through said wall to said secondary housing to permit air to flow through said conduit and said squeaker to produce a sound audible to a dog.