I do it for the entertainment value

A few days ago, Dakota sneaked her tennis ball dumbbell into the house behind my back. It was wet and dirty, and as soon as I realized what she had done I banished the dumbbell to the porch and backyard again. Afterwards I felt bad, because it is obviously her favorite toy and she was forlorn without it. She’d go out on the porch, grab the toy and stand there, looking into the living room like, “Can I come back in now?” To make things worse, the rain stopped her from laying in the middle of the backyard and chewing on her dumbbell to her heart’s content.

So, I did what any good dog-sitter would do… I stopped by PetCo and bought a replacement toy. But instead of the dumbbell I bought this crazy, asterisk-shaped star of tennis ball material. The package said it featured an “erratic bounce.” *giggle*

I’m so glad I did, because I would never have laughed so hard as when I saw Dakota parading around the living room with what looked like a giant, tennis-ball-yellow alien pacifier sticking out of her mouth:

Just how big a hit is this new toy? Well, Dakota is a very picky eater. As in, unless you can get her to take a bite or two of her food to whet her apetite, she just won’t eat. At a typical meal, she takes five times as long to eat as Kelsy, who, as a lab has no issues whatsoever with chowing down. But apparently, all Dakota really needed was a friend to share her meal with:

Yes, I dog-sit for the entertainment value.

I also get a kick out of laying on the floor and making odd squealing/puppy crying noises, all in an attempt to be interesting enough to get shots like this:

Whatever noise I made must’ve really surprised Kelsy! Note that Kota is hanging out with her new best friend in the background… But last night I think I finally managed to bring over something more interesting than the tennis ball toy… Miss Kitty!

That’s Miss Kitty on top of the couch, head encircled in the clear, plastic elizabethan collar (a.k.a., the “hood”). She came out into the living room to investigate the new digs, but then felt the need to move to higher ground. I think it had something to do with the large, four-legged, lip-smacking, intently staring creature to the left.

Actually, everyone is getting along surprisingly well. I don’t have to worry about Kelsy at all, and I just have to watch Dakota to make sure she doesn’t go from watching to stalking. But she’s listening to me, and she’ll turn that crouch-and-pounce stance into the lay-down-and-stare mode if I so much as cough. Purrrfect!