Thursday, May 31, 2012

K9Kamp Week Two: Play with Your...um...Balls!...

Mindy never cared much for balls, so when we adopted Paige she inherited a fair number of them: tennis balls in various colors, hollow rubber balls that squeaked, a hard rubber ball that sounds like a turkey call when rolled or bounced (dubbed the "gobble" ball), balls on ropes, even a ball that looked like a relief map of the earth complete with blue oceans and green continents. Within a few minutes of being given each one, however, Paige had reduced most of them to unrecognizable shreds! She acted more like a puppy than a three-year-old dog. Never having had toys to play with, she didn't have a clue what to do but to chew!
Part of Paige's ball collection.
So, in addition to the three balls that survived (the gobble ball, a puzzle ball that holds treats, and a fuzzy, squeaky one that looks like an over-sized softball with a rope through it), we bought her a Kong ball (virtually indestructible) and a squeaky soccer ball.
Paige pauses to gobble a treat from
her puzzle ball.
Paige's favorite is the puzzle ball. Mindy never felt the amount of effort required was worth such a tiny reward, but Paige LOVES it! In no time, she had figured out how to roll the ball upside down to get the treats. She spends about twenty minutes rolling it all over the house, pausing to gobble its delicious contents (the liver-flavored treats are her favorites), before pawing the ball, or nosing it across the floor, and resuming the game. If it rolls under a table or chair, she will retrieve it and carry it in her mouth to her dog bed (home base), and the game begins again. We now use the puzzle ball twice a week as part of a meal.
Paige carries the puzzle ball
back to  her bed.
I was a little nervous about giving her the soccer ball because it's hollow, and I figured she'd have it demolished in no time. But she seems to have learned that if she wants to be able to keep playing with it, she has to leave it intact. She loves the loud squeak, chases after it, skidding to a halt (or into the wall or door, if inside), then bounds back proudly bearing her prize. 

Game called on account of rain?
No way!
Paige thinks the best part of the game is playing "Keep Away" when I try to retrieve the ball from her so I can throw it again, so I got a lot of exercise this week, too. When I say, "Paige, give," she will--but not until I actually have my hand on the ball. Until then, she'll bob and weave, duck and run, until she thinks I've had a good workout. Talk about a tough personal trainer!
Paige runs to score a goal!
In spite of a week filled with doctor appointments, thunderstorms, and farewell activities for our daughter Sarah and her family, who are moving out of state, Paige and I were able to do between ten to twenty minutes a day of ball play. By the end of the week another three pounds had vanished!

What do you like to do with your dog? Does she have a favorite toy? Does he love to exercise, or is he a couch potato? There's still lots of K9Kamp left, so why not join us--have some fun, shape up for summer, and enjoy special time with your furry best friend! For more information, just click a link below:


Kol's Notes


Peggy's Pet Place



6 comments:

  1. Hehe yeah that is always kind of funny when the dogs skid across the floor trying to put on the brakes before the run into the wall! silly dogs! It sounds like she had a lot of fun. Good job getting in your workouts when your week was so busy!
    Peggy and Kelly

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  2. Yeah, sometimes when she gets going, it's hard to gain traction to stop on our hardwood floors. She really does seem to enjoy her toys. I think she's finally having the puppyhood she missed out on when she was younger, and she has such enthusiasm about EVERYTHING! She makes me smile every day!

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  3. Koly love love loves a treat ball. I'm a stickler for the added calories though, so his is usually filled with little chunks of carrot and broccoli stem. Those floors are so cute to watch them slip & slide on!

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  4. That's a neat idea for the treat ball. Paige doesn't like carrots, but she loves green beans, apple, oranges, and bananas. I wonder if she'd like the dried versions? You've given me an idea. Hope you have fun with the week 3 challenge.

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  5. My goodness, your dog is soooo cute. I think it's awesome she inherited all those toys, and even though she destroyed some, she clearly enjoyed all of it. That's fantastic. And I completely get what you're saying about your floors. We have the same hilarious problem. :-)

    Desmond is a toy destroyer, too. Any kind of toy, no matter what it's made of, his goal is to rip it to shreds or chew it to bits or both. But we don't really mind. It does stop us from buying some of the more expensive toys, but that's about it. We do our best to get him to give it/drop it right away to cut down on the amount of chewing he does with each one, but sometimes we like to just let him enjoy a good chew.

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  6. Thanks, Lauren. With all these compliments, Paige will probably get a swelled head and won't want to obey commands, now. lol I think she's finally realized that, in order to play with the toys more than once, she can't destroy them. Never having had toys before, it has taken her a little time to understand what they're for.

    Learning to "give" is important for Paige to learn as I'm training her to be my service dog. She's doing pretty well with it, but isn't yet consistent.

    Hope you and Desmond are having a good week of K9Kamp.

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