Friday, March 6, 2015

Catch, Fetch, Lunch

Two Writing Teachers
This post is doing TRIPLE DUTY!  Wow!  It's a Slice of Life (click the button above), a Poetry Friday contribution hosted by Robyn Campbell and a -CH poem challenge for My Juicy Little Universe hosted by Heidi Mordhorst.

Keep your eyes on the snowball! Wait for it...wait for it...
Catch, Fetch, Lunch

I'm going to snatch this snowball
And bring it back to you!
I love to play fetch all the time;
I know just what to do!

I'm catching it - it's coming!
I've got it in my sights!
But it's so cold and tasty;
It's in such nice sized bites!

I'm sorry I can't fetch it;
I feel the need to crunch
Next time just throw a real ball
So I won't think it's...
CRUNCH...
lunch!

Our pup, Ginger, that I bought for my husband for Christmas, has a heart of gold - or I guess more like yellow, being a Yellow Lab.  However, she's destroyed all the stuffed animals that our twelve year old Golden Retriever, Pippi, has had most of her life.  Pippi chews nothing - not even dog chew toys with enticing squeakers, or flavored with tasty beef and chicken.  She will carry them around until her saliva gets them all soft and disgusting.  Pippi, like many Golden's, has a very soft mouth and gently carries toys around and cuddles them.  Her toys have always been actual stuffed animal toys for kids.  Winnie the Pooh, a swan, a Cabela's Golden Retriever puppy, a lion, an elephant and a fish.  As of today, we have the elephant left.*  Winnie's nose went last night.  The fish's snout was gone this morning.  I feel sorry for Pippi.  Toys she's had for 7 years or more have been destroyed in less than three months.

Except for "don't chew up stuffed animals", Ginger has learned quite a few commands.  She's known "sit" and "stay" for a long time now.  She also knows "down", "crate", "come" and "go potty".  She does "fetch" unless it is one of my socks, a receipt or a tissue, though she is getting better at coming to me when she has some contraband.  She has her very-good-dog moments and her not-so-cute-gotta love-her-she's-a-puppy times which seem longer than the other moments some days!

Meanwhile, I have learned quite a few things, too.  I'm learning not to keep my socks on the floor, to keep tissues up high or just throw them away, and hang the dishtowels higher than the oven door handle.  And receipts go in recycling unless we need them, and then they get files somewhere besides on the kitchen table where they get knocked to the floor.

Ginger loves the snow.  Most of the area where the dogs run has been packed down well so she can stay on top of it.  I shoveled a bathroom for her the first few times it snowed, and it has stayed packed down low enough to use through most of the storms without doing more shoveling. Her other option would have to be tunneling.

Her favorite outdoor winter games are playing "Dig to the Center of the Earth" (the tunneling option), "Grab a Twig Off a Tree",  "Hold the Leash in Your Mouth and Act Like an Idiot", and "Run Up the Snowbank and Pretend You See Something Important on the Other Side".  All of them involve running a lot.  Some of them involve getting scolded at some point.

She IS a great dog, and no matter what I've just scolded her for, she looks at me with soulful eyes and drops down to lie at my feet.  She may simply be checking for more socks, but I think she likes me.  I called her last night from the kitchen into the livingroom where I was sitting watching TV.  She came tearing into the room and leaped with all four feet off the floor - like you see dogs jumping into water - and landed smack in the ...I'd say smack in the middle of my lap, but she's getting so big.  I survived her flying lap dog impression.
Sometimes I think she's studying to be a human.
* Update:  Unfortunately, just before posting, the elephant was trunk-ate-d by the adorable puppy you see above.  I know, it's hard to believe.  

20 comments:

  1. I'm glad your puppy likes the snow! I enjoyed reading about catching......one's lunch!

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  2. That puppy is so sweet. I live on a farm. LOVE my animals. The photo with the snowball is great. So is your poem. Talk about rhythm. You can sing it. Love your triple duty post.

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    1. Thanks, Robyn! I used to have a farm in Minnesota, but now we're on 5 acres on the coast - an island really. Still out in the country, where we love to be.

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  3. Frisky poem!
    I especially like having it in the voice of the playful pet.
    And that there is a direction for improved play - next time - clever ending.

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  4. I love this! Pippi is so adorable! I do feel for Ginger and her lost toys, though!

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    1. We just stocked up on some durable toys and one softer one that will only come out when Ginger is in her crate so Pippi can enjoy it safely in peace and solitude!

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  5. Oh that puppy stage! What a fun addition to your family! Those eyes would be hard to resist, even when you are mad.

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    1. They are. Sometimes I just have to laugh at her mischief.

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  6. Love it all, Donna. I've always wanted a yellow lab. My son & family had one for a long while, the sweetest dog & just wonderful when their boy was a toddler. She would play fetch with him, bringing a ball back from about two feet! It sounds like you're having a "ball" with this new family member, except for the socks & Pippi's pets!

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    1. We'll have to see how the lab is when she's older. Our Goldens were both much quieter in the house (though excitable around company).

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  7. They keep you on your toes and are such fun to watch. Ginger looks like such a treasure.

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    1. She has such a sweet disposition. Hoping it only gets mellower with age.

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  8. So enjoyed hearing all about Ginger and Pippi -- and sorry about all those destroyed stuffed animals. Love the poem (especially the inclusion of crunch and lunch). :)

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    1. We are still looking for the right combination of tough and cuddly. I think we're just going to have to watch carefully and put the cuddly toys away when she starts chewing.

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  9. Love your poem. We have a dog that chews up every toy and loves to play catch and one that will have nothing to do w/ either. So sorry about the elephant.

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    1. Poor elephant was the last to go. Just got a bit sturdier monkey. We'll see how long that lasts!

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  10. Donna, I've been exploring your blog and had a great time reading all your slices of life! I'm so glad my MarCH CHallenge has been inspiring to you and I thank you for sticking with me all week. You've really challenged yourself to write in so many styles and tones, too (must be how you won that versatile blogger award). Of this week's efforts, I think I like "PUNCH" and "Little-by-Inch" best.

    I hope you'll be up for keeping on next week and that your energy won't be trunk-ate-d by Ginger's antics. : )

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  11. Maybe we should reimagine "puppy love." It's less like "first love" than it is "I love you no matter what you do!"

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