[nagdu] Play time

Tamara Smith-Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Wed Apr 21 08:03:21 UTC 2010


Nicole,

Mitzi will play tug for awhile, but it's not her favorite.  She likes the
interaction more than the tugging.  Soccer is her game, and that is all
there is to it!

Daisy loves tug, but she has been played with so aggressively that she used
to be dangerous.  We did a lot of work on "gentle," and she does pretty
well, although she has quite a bit of bite power, so even a slight upscale
from gentle does not make my fingers happy!  She also likes to do some
wrestling with bites to the arms and hands.  So long as she remembers
gentle, that's okay.  But I have to limit it, as does her dad, and we just
don't let others even think about playing with her at all in case she gets
out of hand.  Yikes!

She also likes to play a bit of tug with the squeaky ball and a couple of
other toys and has gotten good at "give it" and so forth, so we can have
some civilized play that we both can enjoy.  Whew!

She still vocalizes the same way as she did when she would get out of hand,
or when she would just go crazy with anxiety that would result in
aggression....  I've learned to pay careful attention to what I can feel of
her body language and energy, and I keep close watch throughout the day to
keep her all calm and happy.  Still!  The Cujo with Rabies soundtrack is a
bit unnerving, especially since I've seen how close she can come to Cujo
with Rabies, even if it hasn't happened for nearly a year now and that was
only because she was being tormented by the neighbor kids.  That has
stopped, as well.  If it happens again, we've made it pretty clear to the
little punks -- and to their parents -- that they will wish Daisy in super
crazy mode got hold of them.

Anyway, she does Cujo with Rabies trying to Gargle with Phlegm these days
when she wants me to pet her head.  I will hear the sound and assume it's
best to remain calm and pull my hand away in a nonchalant manner....  So she
will follow my hand with her head, playing up the vocalization.  The first
time, I was sure there was going to be an incident, after which I would have
no hand and that would be the end of Daisy.  But, no!  She just wanted me to
love on her and kiss on her.

I no longer have a functioning nervous system because of Daisy!  But I do
love her, and I spend a lot of time loving on her and kissing her.  /smile/
Her latest thing she growls at me for is reading my braille book in the
evening.  Can't love on her with both hands if I'm reading braille, can I?

Then I have to find time to play soccer with Mitzi...  /smile/  At least I
know who's running my life these days.

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Nicole B. Torcolini
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 9:44 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Play time

Lexia loves to play tug of war and have me throw her toys for her.  Every 
now and then, she will forget that a chew bone is not a toy for tug and 
throw, but, besides that, play time is always fun.  She also does this thing

where she stops chewing on her toy, stares at me as though to dare me to 
grab it, and then comes playfully leaping after me when I grab it.  She also

loves to run.  She will play with almost any toy.  However, I do have to be 
careful which toys I give her, and, particularly, which toys I let her keep 
out all the time as chew toys because she has gnawed all the way through 
some of those rings that come connected together.  If you are looking for a 
toy that is good for tug, throw, and chew, I would recommend the toys from 
goughnuts (that is not misspelled).

Nicole and the ever energetic Lexia

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cheryl Osborn" <chapalacheryl at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 8:12 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Play time


> Hi everyone,
>
> Thought it might be interesting to find out what you and your dogs
> like to do for play.
>
> My dog likes to play keep-away and wrestle with a toy. And, sometimes
> tug-of-war.  My last dog liked to play hide-and-go-seek. My first dog
> was Kong crazy.
>
>
> -- 
> Cheryl in Mexico
> chapalacheryl at gmail.com
>
> _______________________________________________
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