Score!
Originally uploaded by wavybrains.
Dear Humans,
Since Wavybrains (also known as she who throws like a girl) is in a pissy mood today, I'd thought I'd do her favor and blog about the newest love of my life: Tether. You can see the whole photo set on Flickr. Video here:
It all started about a week ago or so. The humans emerged from my new white drive (I'm still bitter about the loss of my cozy blue drive) and let me come help them unload. I'm very good at herding their packages into the house.
A long thin box emerged, and he-who-throws-the-furthest was saying something about how it was only $3. But I wasn't paying any attention. At the end of the box, a yellow B-A-L-L was dangling. I immediately started trying to play with it!
I knew just where it should go, so I herded him all the way to the backyard. Wavybrains said, "Hey! We still have to buy concrete!" Luckily, HWTTF ignored her, and slammed the long metal pole into the ground! It was a ball! On a string! Attached to a pole!
The ingenuity of it still astounds me! A toy that doesn't require a human and that can't escape the fence! I'm not sure how much $3 is, but I know that I'd be willing to trade my rubber ducky, rope, and big bone for one of these.
But, the whole slamming the pole into the dirt thing wasn't satisfactory very long. The top part of the pole came loose, and I ran around the yard with the ball, dragging the pole behind me. "Don't bite it!" the humans yelled, but I knew better. I needed to kill this ball and show it who was boss around these parts.
This worked really well. The ball lay in a limp defeated heap until the resurrection machine came and filled it with air again, and the HWTTF poured this huge bucket of gray stuff into the ground. He even pressed my paw into the gray because it was for MY toy.
After a century or so, the pole was back up and the newly resurrected ball came too. Now, it behaved MUCH better. I could go round and round and round. By the second game, I'd figured out that I could wind and unwind the ball by changing direction. This is great training for my soccer playing as it keeps my reflexes sharp.
You can see in the pictures that sometimes I let HWTTF play too! He's not nearly as good as me though. Last night HWTTF and He-who-throws-further-than-Wavybrains were lighting things on fire in the backyard. I ignored all this, and played a long game of night tether.
The genius who invented this game also saw fit to have a bright orange ball. This means that even in the middle of the night, when the humans let me out and say, "JUST pee!" I can race to my tether and play a quick round before they bellow my name!
Also, Wavybrains can watch me out her window and shout encouragement. This isn't nearly as much fun as having her out with me, but since she waddles really slowly lately anyway, I oblige her with a good show.
I'm not putting my soccer balls and frisbee in the garage just yet, but I've got to say that I love having tether available all the time! It's like having a party in my backyard all day!
If you have dog, you might want to try getting a tether. Well, I wouldn't recommend trying this with those white floor mops--they're too closely related to cats to understand the intricacies of tether, but any of your SMART breeds should enjoy this! They can't have mine though!
Love,
Caylis
congratulations on your neat toy, Caylis. What smart owners you have to keep you entertained!
Posted by: Paty | July 05, 2007 at 12:50 PM
Caylis,
You are quite the little writer. Loved your take on your new tether ball toy. Very adorable. Have fun with that thing!
Posted by: Piper Lee | July 05, 2007 at 06:50 PM
I love the guest blogger. He makes a lot of sense. If my dog could read, he would agree, but he can't, alas.
Posted by: Erin O' | July 06, 2007 at 06:55 PM
That was adorable. What fun! I loved seeing the recent pictures! You are beautiful and gorgeous and amazing. I can't believe you've come this far already. I'm so happy for you! Best wishes, c
Posted by: Carrie | July 09, 2007 at 09:30 AM
Dear Caylis,
You're a great writer and we've already asked our HWTTF for a tetherball of our own. Thanks for the info !
Posted by: Allie & Lola | July 13, 2007 at 09:56 AM