Dogs Teaching Dogs, Exhibit A

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

06 Jan 2006 01:20 PM

It's hard to believe that when I first got my little ball-addict Lally, she had no idea what to do with one.

She didn't chase, she didn't fetch, she didn't really care. At the time, she was more interested in taking used tissues out of the garbage and dirty undies out of the laundry to decorate the living room while I was at work. While we were getting used to each other, we came up with the "hide the treat" game. I would hide a biscuit (or a Cheeto, she loved them!) underneath a blanket and she would dig it out with her paw. It was very cute!

I have my ex-boyfriend's dog to thank for teaching Lally to play ball. We were Pest-sitting while the boy was away for a weekend. Now Pest was a dog who loved to play and loved to chase balls. (I must confess, at this point I miss the dog more than I miss the ex-boyfriend!)

While Pest and I played fetch with a tennis ball, Lally wandered around and did her own thing. She really didn't seem interested at all. But once Pest went back home, the ball stayed in the yard.

The first time I threw it for Lally, she ran to the ball. Amazing! She hadn't done that before. She didn't bring it back, so I walked across the yard to the ball and threw it again. Lally ran after the ball a second time. I had to fetch it again.

But the third time I threw the ball, Lally went after it, picked it up, and brought it back! Just from watching Pest play, she had figured out the game. It didn't take long for her to become the ball-addict I know and love today... inside, outside; she doesn't care as long as we're playing.

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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