Variation on an Old Game

Commence giggle-fest

I keep hearing my humans (they are such parent dorks) going on and on about how much Gunnar has grown. People, get a grip! The kid's a year-and-a-half, and he weighs like 25 pounds. I weighed 25 pounds when I was two months old. And I was full-grown by my second birthday. Full grown!

On the other hand, the kid has finally come around to be of some use. We've been playing a variation of the popular dog game Fetch the Ball. The way Fetch used to work was Mark (my human) would throw the ball, I'd get it, Mark would come over to me, we'd play tug-of-war with the ball for twenty minutes, and that was the game.

Tug-of-War

The way it works now is that Gunnar throws the ball. It goes like two feet, but the kid just laughs and laughs until I pick it up. Then Mark comes over to where I am, and the tug-of-war starts. The variation comes here: I finally let him have the ball, which he gives back to Gunnar, and we repeat the game.

Why do I let them have the ball back, you wonder? I'll have to be honest: it's for the laughter that goes on between him throwing the ball and me picking it up. It's a full-on-giggle-till-he's-gasping-for-breath-while-he-stamps-one-foot-then-the-other laugh.

It makes the whole game worth it.