Leo now has some competition over the tennis ball!

I was a bit worried that when Sadie arrived I would have fights over the tennis ball. Leo has been showing a bit too much aggression. He has been bullying the other dogs like he does his little sister. I found that as long as he was shagging down tennis balls he would leave the other dogs alone.

I have taken him on a couple of leased walks just to point out to him that he is no higher in the ranks than any other dog and that seemed to have helped.

But, I have Sadie coming and she might be even a bit more obsessed with tennis balls than Leo. She is also faster and better than Leo in retrieval of balls. This could get ugly, but I am relying on the shear number of tennis and racquet balls I have to throw. Leo it turns out can't let a ball go when there is another dog that can and will get it. So I had my solution, Leo gets the first ball and keeps it in his mouth. He still chases after anything thrown but he can't beat Sadie to it and with a ball in his mouth he can't get mad about it either. So we had a great game of fetch every time they were out for the past few days.

My arm is getting sore and my glove is a muddy mess.

We even had Gunda join in and she is giving Sadie a run for her money. Those two really race for the ball but they have no problem with who returns it. That is the sign of a good dog.

I have Lucky arriving on Saturday. And he is more obsessed with tennis balls than Sadie and he might even be faster. This should be a interesting weekend. I'd better patrol the outside of the kennel for all the racquet balls that have gotten away. There should be 9 not 1 of them. I am going to need more ammo.

More Tennis Ball Obsession

Sadie also suffers from Tennis Ball Obsession. She was playing with the other dogs until she found a tennis ball. She brings the ball to me and then drops it. Unfortunately, she also re-catches her ball more often than she lets me kick it. This makes for a very slow and frustrating game of fetch for me. I have to be extra careful because often I have to hold off kicking the ball because she have swooped in an grab it again.

I kick the ball for her, one, because it is disgusting and two, because I can never bend over fast enough to get a ball.

Well, I managed to kick her in the nose yesterday. She seems completely fine and was right back at drop and re-catch, drop and re-catch, drop and finally let me kick it. I however have a bruise on top of my right foot.

Everybody loves those little blue raquetballs.

Lucky in particular loves and carries one with him, always.

This is BB waiting to Lucky to release the ball so she can steal it. Amica is just taking advantage of BB's focus on Lucky.

This is what happens if I get my hands of the little blue orb. If Amica gets it, she will drop it and I will attempt to get it before BB or Lucky gets it. If I fail or one of them gets it first, the game slows down considerably.

Now it is Lucky's turn to watch the ball and not have it.

My problem is that this is only ball I can find in the kennel. I will have to walk around the outside of the fence and see if all the other racquetballs have just escaped.

So, this is why I can't find any tennis balls in the play yard

Lucky not only likes to chases balls, he likes to keep them too.

Keep them to himself, I see.

The blue racquetballs may has escaped through the fence, but the tennis balls have all been rounded up and hidden under The Boys' blankets.

Remy is one of my big ball chasing dogs.

And this is how she stares at her toy until I throw it again, or until BB or Daisy steals it away.

I am thrilled that I can now play ball with Remy, Sadie, Daisy and sometimes BB since they will ALL now return balls to me. BB still needs some work, but I honestly think she prefers to chew on a toy over chasing after it.

I just had the best play time, ever!

That Dog Whisperer stuff really works!

I have been 'one with the couch' for most of this week. When I could wrestle control of the remote from the kids, who where also home sick, I would switch from Nickelodeon to episodes of the "Dog Whisperer".

He was helping a family with a beagle that grabbed everything and anything and just ran with it. Remotes, phones, magazines, newspapers, glasses, toys - if it wasn't nailed down they were chasing him to get it back. This transformation was something I really wanted to see. I have so many dogs that won't release a toy back to me.

I know I can't yank these toys out of the dog's mouths. Tug of war is not a game I am ever going to win. What I didn't know was that I shouldn't even try to pull the toy out, the dogs should be giving them to me voluntarily. The pack leader doesn't snatch something out of another dog's mouth, they expect the dog to drop it and relinquish it to the leader. This I am going to try, but after I am feeling better. I figure that I am tired, sick, and not cut striking figure as the Leader of the Pack this week.

But an opportunity presented itself. I was sitting and BB walked up with a toy in her mouth. I tried Cesar's 'claw' technique. You make you hand into a claw and poke the dog in the next just under the jaw line. This is like a 'bite' from us and that is how a dog would communicate to another dog. One poke and BB dropped that toy into my lap. I could not believe it. I thought it had to be a fluke it happened so fast. When it worked a second time I knew I was onto something.

I had a dog that wanted to play fetch, but whenever Remy would bring a ball back, Daisy or BB would steal it. This makes for a very short game of fetch. I did my best Cesar impersonation, I touched Daisy and said, "SHHH!" and she dropped the ball. This has never happened before. BB got smart and started to stay out of touching range, but I had Daisy bring the ball back to me over and over again.

Best part, they were still releasing balls the next day. Now, I have to get the owners to continue my good work.