Shaddup Already!
2005-12-11
The BallsTell All
I have bought little 5 1/2" diameter sports balls for the last three dogs I've had. I decided after giving Atticus his, that you can tell a lot about a dog by the way they play with a ball that is too big for their mouths.Destiny
(aka Princess Papasan) refused to have anything to do with a meager ball. Who was I to expect her to open her mouth more than a fraction of it's capability to put some rubber-tasting device in there.
Now, had it been studded with diamonds and sapphires, she might have given it a go. Although, in truth, she probably would have flirted with the German Shepherd down the street and gotten him to do it for her.
Cami
(aka the problem solver) promptly popped the ball and insisted I throw it for her again and again. She didn't seem to understand or care that a flat ball doesn't have the best aerodynamics to fly very far.
Atticus
(aka the eternal go-getter/Energizer Bunny) has yet to pop his ball. He loves it. He works his jaw around it and carries it across the yard. Sometimes he drops it, but that doesn't matter, he just works it back in the mouth and trots back on his way.
I'm really surprised that his soccer ball is still alive--considering the damage he can do to a cardboard box in a matter of seconds. And yet it lives.
Atticus actually enjoys the game of "kicking fetch" over the game of "throwing fetch." While I don't know the reason for sure, I do have my suspicions.
See, this is difficult to admit, but I'm much taller than Atticus. So when I throw a ball, there is no chance that he can intercept it before it hits the ground. He's really not a jumping kind of dog.
When I kick the baby soccer ball, he has a chance to catch it all along the route. He doesn't often catch it, though. There are many, many times when I kick the ball right into his face or side. I feel badly, but he just wags his tail and looks at me like, "Is that all you've got?"
