May 30, 2012

Ball-Der-Dash

This week is K9 Kamp's "Play with your balls" week. Since I couldn't bring myself to borrow that title, I figured I'd go with the play on balderdash instead. And I'm not talking nonsense - no, I'm talking about getting some exercise dashing around with your dog and his/her favorite ball.

I have to admit, this has been a tough one for us, since Rita's not a huge ball player, but we managed to come up with a few things.
  • Sunday at the beach, we happened to find a bright pink beach ball. Musta been K9 Kamp kismet. Now, I ought to have some lovely photos here of Rita herding said lovely bright pink ball, but the hubster talked me out of bringing the camera. Oh well. Anyway, we were booting the ball back and forth, and watching Rita run after it and herd it, when a chihuahua ran up, chomped it, and it popped. Waa-waaaaa. Well, it was fun while it lasted. (Later we wrestled her for a dead gopher - we won!! - so that was some bonus cardio.)
  • Monday, we played a game of fetch and the hubster and I did squats while Rita ran after the ball. (And I think we might have messed up Mike's bad knee doing that, so maybe that wasn't a great idea for him...)
  • At Helen Woodward where I volunteer, I played a game of soccer with one of the adoption dogs. I'd post a pic of her gorgeous cattle-doggish self, but she got adopted right after our game. I'd like to think it was me helping show off her mad skills that helped find her furever home. :)
  • Finally, yesterday, I was trying to get Rita to play some ball in the house (our yard's not great for ball - too small, with a BIG slope that I've never even been down) when the ball accidentally landed in the laundry basket. Luckily I'd been lazy about getting to my folding, because our version of "basket ball" turned out to be pretty fun. I'd sneak in some arm curls while she'd fetch the ball, and it was good for her self confidence since she was a little afraid of the basket at first. We'd also play a little tug (upper body workout!) when she brought the ball back.
"It's a little scary in here..."

"...but I did it!"
She's strong for a little thing!

Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive and Dodge
In other ball-related news, Mike's work is having a dodge ball tournament next week. They have a super classy team name - Dodgy Style. Nice, huh? After one practice session (one!), Mike came home with major pain in his shoulder muscles; he ran into a co-worker icing her finger that was bent at an odd angle; and one poor guy went to the hospital. So, if this is how things are after one practice, I guess we'll see if any of them are still standing/mobile/fit for work after the actual tournament. It's all fun and games, until someone ends up in tears. Or the hospital. But it's all in the name of Team Building! And who wants to miss out on the chance to throw a ball at their boss's head??

And Now For Something Completely Different
Enough with the ball talk. My sister and I hadn't felted a dog in a while, so last week when we met up for our usual Thursday morning session, we decided to create a random dog, rather than try to make one of the actual known dogs we have on our to-do(g) list. We came up with this little gray poodle-esque pup. If they'll have him, we're planning to donate him (and hopefully another pup or two of some sort) to the San Diego Humane Society's silent auction fund-raising gala this summer.
 

 



What's a Blog Post Without a Shameless Plug?
Another book-review blog posted a review of What the Dog Ate. She rated the book a "perfect beach read" and wrote:
As a pup owner, I loved the emphasis on dogs and their abilities to help a person heal.  The author used the dog at the right times to show unconditional love, this could be a great book to give to someone to encourage them in times of trouble to get a pup!
Pups certainly can help us out in times of trouble. And they can help us get some exercise! Rita and I are looking forward to the next week's challenge! Now, get out there and play with your balls. (Or do it indoors if you prefer.)


BTW... this is a blog hop!

7 comments:

  1. So glad to hear that your book keeps getting good reviews!

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  2. Lou would be your go-to dog for this week's activity. B-A-L-L is what he lives for. He wants to know can he please suit up for Unca Mike's dodgeball game? (Mixed feelings about that dodgeball thing -- the story cracked me up, but also that game used to really freak me out when I was a kid.) T.

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  3. Thanks, Donna!

    And T, yes, I was totally thinking of Lou during ball week! He would have loved it.

    I also hated dodge ball in school! Bad memories. [shudders] Since Mike brought home the trophy from the work badminton tournament, I'm hoping he'll also bring home the hardware from the dodgeball madness!

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  4. Well I never thought gopher wrestling would make it into k9kamp! Anyway, you got in a lot of great activities, especially the laundry basket ball game! And I love the gray felted dog, that is adorable. Oh and fun news about your book too! yippeee!
    Peggy and Kelly

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  5. THAT LITTLE FELTED DOG IS SO CUTE!

    Sorry, I got distracted but the adorableness. LOL, I never though of "gopher wrestling" as a potential kamp workout, but I am impressed it was one. LOL

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  6. Gopher wrestling?! OH MY! That sounds...gross. I sure hope you don't have to do that again, and I definitely think you get bonus points for that in K9 Kamp. My god. I have to stop thinking about this. lol

    Other than that, it sounds like you guys did a lot and had a bunch of fun. Nice job!

    ReplyDelete

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