More Dog Games

We had an epic bout of the game Moving Scooby-Doo yesterday. It was sunny, one of the handful of sunny days in the past month, and my best friend Shila came over for a walk around the Loop. Well, I guess you could call it a walk, although Shila and I collapsed to the ground to soak up the rare winter sun about every 50 feet... Inspired by two people to root for him, Chet carried Scooby down a steep hill, along the trail through head-high sumac, and almost to the turn in the trail where we descend to the Chute. It was amazing. At this rate we'll get Scooby home long before spring. Shila really digs Chet, and the feeling's mutual. Truth be told, he loves everyone--almost. I've seen Chet refuse to approach only one person, and that was a man who hunts and traps and is sometimes heard yelling at his dog. No such fear with Shila, friend to all living things. In this blog, I'm featuring her photography. Since I'm always behind the lens, it's hard to get a picture of myself self-actualizing.It's cool to see my world through someone else's camera lens. Here's Shila's photo of Chet, scanning the overlook for chaseable cattle. I think his encounter last month may have cooled his jets on chasing cattle, but I won't know until we come in contact with a herd again. He approaches the scene of his cow-chasing escapade warily now, and I hope that means he'll have more sense next time.
One thing I love doing with Chet is inventing games on the spot. He can be walking through millions of fallen leaves, but hold one up over his head and invite him to jump for it, and it becomes a conquest. This dog is made of Flubber; he can spring like a rubber ball straight up to my chest height. Here, I'm talking to him through a piece of gas line pipe. Whatever the joke, Chet gets it. Fun follows him around like a steaming bowl of Quaker oatmeal.