Raising Litter Mates

	THE GAME OF FETCH I may have gotten the name wrong the first entry - I'm not 100% sure what this Abbotsford Off-Leash Trail Dog Park is called - One side says Stoney Creek, the other says Bateman Park! The park itself is on Bateman Road, so it's either one or the other! I apologize for the mistake - IF I even made a mistake!
Subscribe      Email Me

Yesterday was one of those mornings - dull, grey and misty. My mom came to visit for the weekend and she, as much as I, LOVES to watch Kratos and Taro frolick around the park with other dogs. They are such characters when they play - it's like they become 6 months old again! They are more than social - they don't quite understand that some dogs just don't want to play with them. I don't interfere when they are meeting new dogs I am relaxed and confident that my boys adjusted enough to do this on their own - sometimes they feel the need to "mount" the new dog though, and I just hope that the dog puts them in their place instead of me having to grab his collar, speak a firm NO/OFF, and pull him off. This is a whole new topic that I'll write about later - let's get back to the real topic at hand FETCHING!

When the litter mates were puppies we introduced the game of fetch (indoor) down the hallway. Kratos seemed to pick it up a little quicker than Taro and now I am happy to report that Kratos is a fetching machine!

We didn't want to run them hard until they were at least a year old. They ran and played on their own - the ball was always hand tossed/thrown, we didn't introduce the chuck-it until quite recently. Kratos has quite the interest in the game of fetch now - we launch his ball with the chuck-it and off he goes! Taro is a little skeptical about the game. He definitely knows how to fetch - he just chooses not too all the time. I often wonder if he is just too smart for that game - Taro enjoys the running and wrestling with other dogs - he enjoys the game of chase as well. While I am launching balls for Kratos - Taro is running cirlces around other dogs in the field, he is finding sticks and teasing his buddies.. he will bark if no other dogs are "playing" with him. He is very interesting to watch. By the way , we don't let him bark continuously, I stop him when he gets out of hand because this dog can bark!!

When Kratos sees his ball - Ultra Ball or Tennis Ball - he becomes fixated. He doesn't pay a lot of attention to the other dogs around him unless we put the ball away. Usually what ends up happening is I keep his ball in my pocket until he has socialized and met with the other dogs in the same area before we play ball. It's great that we can tire him out with the ball - now I just need to find a suitable "game" that I can tire Taro out with! Wish me luck with that!

Until next time!