I just bought a cute cuddly dog with some mechanical capabilities for around $40. It pants, whines, barks, etc. she seemed to like it. https://www.hammacher.com/product/animated-plus...

I couldn't afford any of the mechanized ones so I bought a baby doll at Wal-Mart for $10. She loves our baby Sarah.

I bought a mechanical dog for my husband - There were times that he would interact with it like it was real. It had some sort of a sensor so it would respond if he moved. I had it sitting on a stool next to his chair. I have seen the cat too. The lady that had that one slept with it, it sat on a table in front of her during the day. - she was very attached. I think I paid around 100 dollars.

Nope but it sounds interesting. Many blessings and good luck finding something besides Santa.

Perhaps a large doll with a stuffed body would meet her need to hold something.