Our dog doesn’t play fetch like our cat does.
Oh, sure, you can go outside and throw something for Xena to fetch, but more than likely she’ll sit by your side, watch the projectile arc gracefully through the air, and wonder why in the world you threw it way out there. Throw a puffball inside the house, however, and nothing is as certain as the fact that it will return to you in Olivia’s mouth, and she’ll happily drop it by your feet and bat it around a little bit while she waits for you to throw it again. It’s fun!
Olivia also perks up at the mention of the word “puffball.” She can be dozing off, but if you say “puffball,” she looks up in anticipation.
Actually, Olivia carries a lot of stuff around, dog-like, in her mouth: hair scrunchies, string, cat toys (especially Claude), you name it. We’ve found wayward baby socks around the house in places where we never would have put them. Even better is that she’s teaching Oberon this valuable skill.
Don’t believe me? Click here for the video, taken in the doorway of Evan’s room.
Finally, another cat that fetches! Our catch used to fetch, although she never mastered getting it all the way back to us – she would always drop it just out of our arms reach. When we would tell people about it, they would always look at us skeptically. 🙂 Too bad she doesn’t do it too much anymore.
Little girl used to play fetch with us regularly back in CA, but hasn’t played much since, sadly. We would get these little foam squishy balls that looked like soccer balls and throw them around in the kitchen. She used to slide around chasing it, then bite it and carry it back in her mouth and… drop it in one of our shoes. Every single time. I’ve no idea why she went for the shoe, but even when we weren’t playing already, sometimes she’d show up with the ball in her mouth and look around for a shoe and drop it in to let us know she wanted to play. I wish we had gotten video back then. 😛
Violet loves to play fetch with a little kong mouse that I have. My pug Maggie could care less about playing fetch (but she is old and arthritic).