THE CHASE…

Dogs like to chase things — balls, other dogs, treats, cats (to name a few) — and since I am a dog, it should come as no shock that I, too, love a good chase. Well, today I got just that — good chases of balls, dogs, and even a cat though the last got me in a bit of trouble.

Our day began with Lucy who is obsessed with one kind of chasing — tennis balls.  We walked down through the woods, over the bridge, and into the park with Lucy ALWAYS in the lead.  She was beside herself while Gretchen unpacked her bag, loaded up the chuck-it (the device she uses to hurl the ball far across the field), and pulled out her camera. By the time the ball was thrown, Lucy was ecstatic racing back and forth across the field with flying glee!

Generally, we can’t wear Lucy out.  She’s tireless in the chase, but today, we finally achieved a tongue out kind of tired, whereas I was down after 15 minutes of the game.

I rested and watched as Lucy raced down the field and back again fetching the tennis ball. The only hint that Lucy gets tired (aside from a bit of panting) is when, on the return (after the fetch) she weaves back down the field sniffing the ground.  In other words, she doesn’t come back as fast as normal and thus, I’m assuming, is catching her breath before the next ball is hurled across the field.  But I could be wrong.

After we dropped Lucy off with her mom, we ventured back up the street to retrieve Ollie.  He’s always so excited to see us we were surprised when he didn’t race into the backyard to greet us.  Turns out his mom was home sick and he was no doubt fulfilling his role as nurse before leaving the house.

Ollie came over to my house for a bit whereupon I tried to engage him in a game of chase around the yard. He wasn’t buying it.  New to the environment, he just wanted to check things out and have a look around.

At first that really frustrated me, but once I settled down, I could see his perspective. I live in my yard every day so nothing is new to me. For him, EVERYTHING is new so he needed some time to take it all in.

We headed over to Gemma’s house after awhile and then walked through the park to the tennis courts. That is where the real chase began. This time, I chased a ball, but soon abandoned my pursuit for the chase of Ollie. Man, is he ever fast (see photo at top of this post)!  It seemed that Gemma and I were always just out of reach of the speed demon.

Soon, I tired out again (I’m getting older) though Gemma, in her yellow attire, rested at strategic moments!

We took Gemma back to her house (hopefully exhausted) and Ollie back to his house (hopefully exhausted though still able to nurse his mom back to health) and then headed home by way of Quillette’s house.  Q-girl was thrilled to see us and since she’s older, we got to go on a leisure stroll through the park back to our house.  Quillette also hurt her leg the other day so we didn’t end up walking too terribly long so as not to strain her leg.

Of course, on the way back home, I spotted a cat and it came as quite a shock to Gretchen when I viciously leapt out to try to grab it.  This, of course, excited Quillette too and well, Gretchen almost fell flat on her face holding our leashes. I didn’t catch the cat nor did Gretchen catch the picture, but you can imagine the excitement of it all!

Quillette came back with us to our house and did what Quillette does best — chase treats!  I swear, she can smell them from a mile away.  Once she’s got their scent, she gives her best begging face (something I’m trying to learn) and we usually end up with something tasty!

We rested for a few hours while Gretchen worked on a freelance job she received that morning, then it was off for one last walk before we took Quillette home to await the arrival of her own mother.

I have to admit, the day — the chasing — made me one tired pup. I ate my dinner with enthusiasm and fell fast asleep on my bed.  A good day by any standards!