May 10, 2015

Our Dog is Lazy: Recumbent Fetch & Another Inventive Game for Lazy Dogs

We are coming to grips with the fact that our dog is lazy.

I've mentioned before that Rita's not really that into playing fetch. Oh, she'll run after the ball/toy a time or two, but then she just takes it to her bed.

You've heard of "recumbent cycling", right? Well, I guess this is her idea of "recumbent fetch." Here's a little video of her "playing" ball:

Did you see the "well, duh" look she gave me when I said "should I get that for you?"?! Lazy little turkey.

Our beagle was also inventive when it came to ball play. Some might say she was being lazy -- because she would stay on the couch and WE would run around -- but that wasn't laziness. That was just her way of making us play too.

In our first apartment, our couch stuck out into the room, so she'd get up on the couch with her paws on the back part of it. (Some of you might recall that I wrote about this once before - and also of her love of apple-chasing and other games, but will recap here since Rita's recumbent fetch game reminded me of Bailey.)
The hubs and I would stand in the open area behind the sofa and bounce a ball at her. She would knock it with her nose and send us chasing after it. If we caught it, we got a point. If we didn't, she got a point. I swear she would purposely try to bop it off at some crazy angle where we'd never get to it in time.

In our current house, our sofa again sticks out into the room. Thinking this would be a good game for our lazy Rita! Maybe I'll try to teach it to her! 

Please tell me I'm not the only one with a lazy dog!

Thanks to Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies for hosting Monday Mischief!

26 comments:

  1. Rita is so cute! Zoe is of similar laziness unless it has to do with mischief. LOL

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  2. LOL. Our dog, Pip, was king of the couch potatoes. We spent years trying to get him interested in playing, walking, anything that might make a bit more active and healthy, He would have none of it - his motto was why walk when you can ride (he was a yorkie and loved his stroller) and why play when you can sleep.

    Our new dog Ruby is the exact opposite - she loves to walk, play fetch, etc. So, now we have to learn to keep up with her.

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  3. We don't do fetch. Bailie and Katie will grab a ball and run around with it playing keep away, but no fetch. We spend a lot of time snoozing around here, but we also work real hard every day with long walks, runs, nose work, and tracking homework, so Mom says we deserve good nap times.

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  4. You need to teach her to "bounce it back." That is what I used to tell Indy when I'd toss her something and she'd just stand there chewing on it. As you know, she could bounce things back with her nose, like a seal, when the toy hit her just right, but then I got her to toss things or at least drop them in my general direction when I said "bounce it back."

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  5. WELL I am not big on exercise but the two meanies run all over the house crazy like chasing each other until all their oxygen is gone.
    stella rose

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  6. The video was pretty funny! Rita's got you trained pretty well, lol. It reminds me of when Haley accidentally drops a toy off the side of the bed and then looks at me like "Do you mind getting that for me?"

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  7. Kilo goes from being the most rambunctious little pug to the laziest lol

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  8. No lazy dogs in my house! I tell people all the time that if they want a couch potato don't get a corgi! Wilson is just now slowing down as he reaches 12.

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  9. Here in Doodleville Harley doesn't call that lazy - Harley calls that "pacing himself" BOL

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  10. Sampson has been discretionarily lazy since he was a puppy! You would throw the ball and he would chase once, twice, three times, then he laid down on it. He was done.

    But he will walk all day long with you, fetch just isn't his thing.

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  11. Mr. N will play fetch a couple of times and then lose interest. It's not because he's lazy though lol!

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  12. Beagles just know how to have fun!!!

    Boomer

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
    https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer

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  13. "Recumbent fetch" is maybe my new favorite term! :) You are not the only one with a lazy dog... Emmett is the King of Lazy. I don't think he's fetched a thing, not one, in the almost 10 years he's lived with us! It would interfere with his napping.

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  14. Sherman is totally lazy. He sits to play catch and sighs when I tell him it's time to go for a walk.

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  15. Looks like you've been well trained! Those in the pack that play, play well. If a ball is thrown TO Bill, he acts like you are throwing it AT him, so no playing there!

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  16. My little one used to play fetch. And frisbee. Man could he jump. Hes almost 15 though so now he just looks at us like we are crazy! He can still jump for a treat, but we try not to do that to much anymore. My Dane refuses. He could care less about balls and chewies. My foster dane however is a lab mix and will bring back anything you throw for him. I love it!

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  17. LOL and love that photo of Bailey. Nope, 3 retrievers here and all love to play fetch :-)

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  18. That vid of RIta is too funny. Our Sally was like that, she would invent games and we usually did most of the work too. Jack's idea of fetch is to chase it once and then run with it back to his bed and chew it.

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  19. thats a game right up a pug, or bulldogs, alley

    retro rover

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  20. A little lazy, but very creative.
    We used to play something similar to "recumbent" fetch with our senior Golden Retriever. At 16 years old, he still wanted to play, but the body just wan't able. So we'd toss him his tennis ball while he laid on his bed. It kept him entertained, gave him some activity, and kept his mind engaged.

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  21. Oh, that's darling. Such smart and clever dogs. Sinead, my Boston, plays a very active game of fetch. I can just stay in one spot and she'll chase a ball for hours and hours. I love to play that game with her.

    Jean from Welcome to the Menagerie

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  22. hello pooch smooches its dennis the vizsla dog hay it is not laziness it is konservayshun of enerdjee!!! for instanse dada sez i am the wurlds laziest watchdog on akkownt of wen sumwun comes to the door i offen do not bother to git up off the kowtch to bark i just sit their and roo a littel as if i just barely cud wayk up but reely i am sayving up my mussel strength in kayse i akchooally need to lawntch myself into attak mode!!! it is all part of my plan!!! ok bye

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  23. Haha that is a relaxing game of fetch. I have no idea why, but your most recent posts just showed up in my reader. Weird.

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  24. Lol! That is a funny way to fetch. Better than no fetch at all.

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