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stoutfellowBoth dogs like to have me throw things for them. The results of such throwing are... rather different.
First off: Gracie doesn't fetch. If I throw a toy for her (and Buster's not around - more on that later), she'll take off at top speed, but when she gets to the toy she'll grab it, immediately drop it, and come racing back to me. (Sometimes the "grab" gets a little sketchy; she just makes a feint in that direction before reversing field.)
Buster comes closer to the ideal. He'll charge after the toy, grab it and come back, but usually he'll only come near, not to, me - and he certainly won't drop it. (Sometimes he'll circle past or around me and jump up on the couch or my bed, where he'll stand and growl menacingly as I come to take it away from him.) If Gracie's also there when I make the throw, she'll chase after it too, but Buster always outraces her. She arrives a second too late, and from that point until the return she... well, she strafes him - charging in growling and barking, only to sheer off and circle around for another run, all while he's coming back to me. (Tonight, once, as I made a grab for Buster's toy, she raced in and attacked my hand, in the same fashion.)
Sometimes I'll throw a toy for Gracie while, at the same time, tug-of-warring with Buster. Diminishing returns set in quickly, since she never brings it back. (Buster's toys, conversely, tend to wind up stacked: he keeps bringing them all back to the same place.)
Her current favorite toy was once a tennis ball. The inner core has separated into two neat hemispheres of rubber; the cloth covering is badly torn, but still holds the halves together. It throws something like a bola. She'll pick it up by one hemisphere and shake it so that the other half flops around excitingly. Definitely a terrier....
First off: Gracie doesn't fetch. If I throw a toy for her (and Buster's not around - more on that later), she'll take off at top speed, but when she gets to the toy she'll grab it, immediately drop it, and come racing back to me. (Sometimes the "grab" gets a little sketchy; she just makes a feint in that direction before reversing field.)
Buster comes closer to the ideal. He'll charge after the toy, grab it and come back, but usually he'll only come near, not to, me - and he certainly won't drop it. (Sometimes he'll circle past or around me and jump up on the couch or my bed, where he'll stand and growl menacingly as I come to take it away from him.) If Gracie's also there when I make the throw, she'll chase after it too, but Buster always outraces her. She arrives a second too late, and from that point until the return she... well, she strafes him - charging in growling and barking, only to sheer off and circle around for another run, all while he's coming back to me. (Tonight, once, as I made a grab for Buster's toy, she raced in and attacked my hand, in the same fashion.)
Sometimes I'll throw a toy for Gracie while, at the same time, tug-of-warring with Buster. Diminishing returns set in quickly, since she never brings it back. (Buster's toys, conversely, tend to wind up stacked: he keeps bringing them all back to the same place.)
Her current favorite toy was once a tennis ball. The inner core has separated into two neat hemispheres of rubber; the cloth covering is badly torn, but still holds the halves together. It throws something like a bola. She'll pick it up by one hemisphere and shake it so that the other half flops around excitingly. Definitely a terrier....
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Date: 2009-04-04 01:08 am (UTC)At least according to dog training experts, of which I r not 1!
Love, C.
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Date: 2009-04-04 03:19 pm (UTC)I'm so glad to read how much fun you're having with the Dogzes; imagining the chasing, fetching, and bobbing and weaving to get the ball back makes me smile.