Chuckit

Howdy blogaroos. Squirmy here. On another wonderful Wednesday. Here to tell you our latest clutzy human story. Honestly, she’s so lucky we keep her.

So our snow is melting. Rapidly. And while parts of our trails to the lake are still snowy, places that are wide open and where there’s lots of sun, are pretty clear of snow. Like the golf course. So the Warden got this idea to take yours truly to the links with a Chuckit launcher and ball. She will only do this early in the morning, when the ground is still hard and frozen. For one thing, she doesn’t want me all mushy, muddy and wet – and she doesn’t want me scuffing up the fairways.

The other thing about frozen fairways is the fact that if the Chuckit ball is launched properly- it can go for a LONG distance. And we know what the objective is – tire me out.

So the other morning we got up early and when daylight hit, we all had a walk to the lake and then yours truly got to go to the links. And boy was I running and running. Racing after the ball and racing back with it. As the Warden would hurl the ball, she would continue to walk in the direction I was running.

And all was going great. I was doing my cardio and having a great time. Sometimes she would throw it back in the direction we had come from. I was getting a great workout. It was all perfect…. until my less than coordinated human threw the ball off course. I still raced after it but threw on the brakes as the ball bounced into a pond. I guess I shouldn’t say “into.” It actually bounced ON the pond because it was still frozen. It bounced across it, and I raced to the other side. BUT it stopped about 10 feet from the edge. And I wasn’t taking ANY chances on that ice. I’m no fool. The Warden approached the edge and attempted to step just on the very edge of the ice. Crack. Nope – it was solid enough for a ball – but not a person or a PON. She tried to reach it with the Chuckit. Too far. I sat down to watch the proceedings.

Luckily this pond was close to the rough – and the woods were on one side. So the Warden went looking for a stick longer than the Chuckit. First stick- not long enough. So she went to get another one. I was watching, but I was getting bored. She found another stick and this time she had success. Ball retrieved! So she went to throw the stick into the woods. It was at this point that yours truly decided I should go for a walk about. And I disappeared into the woods. The Warden was busy gathering up the ball, the Chuckit, my leash – and she watched me as I went. She was all assembled and called my name. If it was summer, I would say all she heard was crickets. But they’re not out yet, so it was silence. I WAS wearing my bell, but she couldn’t hear me. She decided to keep walking, assuming I would appear any second. Here’s the thing – you know how they say 1 human year is like 7 dog years? Well for every minute we are missing, it feels like 7. When I didn’t materialize after 14 dog minutes ( 2 real minutes), she started walking toward the spot where she saw me go into the woods. She called my name. Nothing. Another 7 dog minutes and she’s beginning to worry. Another 7 minutes and she starting to think she should start going in the woods. But where to look? By this point she envisions me being eaten by wolves. And we don’t even have any wolves here. At least none that we know of. It’s cold out but she’s sweating. It’s been like 29 dog minutes. And then suddenly, she hears my bell. I appear – racing toward her over a hill – 180 degrees from where I went in the woods. I happily came to her with my treasure. I drop a golf ball at her feet.

Of course she wanted to strangle me – but instead, gave me treats because she was so relieved – and I did find a ball.

Yesterday we did the Chuckit routine again, and this time she didn’t throw it when we were approaching the pond. See- she learns quickly! She can be easy to train. Sometimes.

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.