[nagdu] The Shadow Ball WAS Re: Smack Down

Tami Kinney tamara.8024 at comcast.net
Thu Apr 26 20:00:08 UTC 2012


Lisa,

The shadow ball is actually the  iSqueak ball made by JW Pet. They come 
in several sizes, have a truly wonderful squeak. If you're a dog. /lol/ 
They're made from rubber and seem to keep their appeal for mouthing, 
tossing, chasing, keep away, whatever, even after they lose their 
squeak. They also seem to last forever no matter how many dogs with how 
many kinds of bite power are squeaking them or just deflating them and 
letting them reinflate after they've lost their squeaker. They can, I 
can tell you for fact, withstand being run over and briefly parked on by 
a garbage truck! /lol/

Anyway, Mitzi thiefed her first ever of these wonder balls from her 
friend Shadow, and I was running out of toy names, so it became the 
Shadow ball, after Shadow. We got them from the same neighborhood store 
Shadow's mom and dad had gotten his first one, and they soon became 
quite popular. Everyone credited Mitzi with being the trend setter 
there, because Mitzi always has the cool toys, but it was Shadow who 
started it because he was ahead of Mitzi in the cool toy department... 
Although he did thief a few things from her before his mom and dad broke 
down and got him his own. /lol/

The shadow ball became a must-have throughout the neighborhood dog park 
crowd, and we all bought them from the same store. So shadow ball 
newbies were instructed to just go there and ask the owner to show them 
the shadow balls. /lol/ Nobody knew what they were called, so when I 
moved, I had to look the stupid things up on the internet to be able to 
shop for more. But in that neighborhood, you just went to the store and 
asked about shadow balls. Since the shop owner was a good friend of 
Shadow's mom and dad, she of course knew from the first what people were 
talking about. She kept a good supply on hand. Because, while they never 
wear out, they can still get lost, or thiefed on the field without the 
dog owner knowing (if the dog is clever enough not to squeak it when 
it's time to go home. Lotta smart dogs in that neighborhood, really. We 
were all always bringing back the shadow balls our dogs had thiefed. 
There for awhile, it was quite the musical shadow ball game as people 
came and went at certain times. There would be shadow balls everywhere, 
sounding like a large rodent or even a duck (depending on the size of 
ball) murder going on. But not a single dog would have its own ball! 
They would trade balls off in some sort of hierarchy or buddy 
grouping... Funniest thing. Of course, we humans were all delighted 
because our dogs were running and playing and didn't need us to 
entertain them. When it was time for someone to go home, they would find 
their own dog's shadow ball, give the one their dog was playing with 
back to the owner of the dog it had traded with and off they would go.

Dog park culture is pretty funny, if you stop and think about it. People 
go around talking about shadow balls and whose dog thiefs what from whom 
and which dog set the trend in cool toys and who knows what else? Even 
if you know people's names, you still call them Mitzi's mom or Shadow's 
mom and dad or whatever, even when you meet them in the neighborhood 
stores or restaurants with not a dog in sight.

Anyway, that is the complete history of the evolution of the Shadow ball 
as I know it, having been there when it all happened. /lol/

Tami

On 04/26/2012 08:26 AM, Lisa belville wrote:
> Shadow balls?  Do tell?
>
>
> When life gives you lemons, throw them at something.  Always makes me 
> feel better.
> Lisa Belville
> missktlab1217 at frontier.com
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tami Kinney" 
> <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2012 4:14 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Smack Down
>
>
>> OMG! Do you have bubble wrap for all the furniture. That would be *a 
>> lot* of rowdy between the two of you. /lol/
>>
>> Oh, this from someone who plays soccer with the dog in the house, 
>> even if with a j-Squeak ball and not a regulation soccer ball... What 
>> I love about our "shadow balls" is that when they bounce off the TV 
>> or the computer screen or other breakable things, they don't break 
>> them! /lol/
>>
>> The puppy's game is keep away... Guess who gets to do the puppy 
>> chasing? /lol/ We're turning the use of contraband for tokens to keep 
>> away from me into work on "bring it" and "drop it" now, and are 
>> making progress. Whew. But then I must play keep away when she 
>> initiates the game with a toy or bone. /lol/ I keep complaining that 
>> I am way too old for this, but she has as much concern over my feeble 
>> decrepitude as Mitzi does when I say the same thing about soccer.
>>
>> DD does some wrestling with his oversized brick of a puppy, but he is 
>> made of sterner stuff than I... She's a sweetie and works to remember 
>> "gentle" but she is still a big pup with a strong mouth, so when it's 
>> my arm with which she forgets "gentle," I am not having fun. /lol/ 
>> I'll leave the smack down to you big, strong manly types!
>>
>> Tami
>>
>> On 04/24/2012 02:49 PM, Marion Gwizdala wrote:
>>> Dar,
>>>    What I call "smack down" is simply rough housing with my dog. I'm 
>>> not a fan of professional wrestling, but they have a program called 
>>> "Smack Down". He loves it when I play rough with him, grabbing his 
>>> feet,pushing him around, and smacking his muzzle. It's all in fun 
>>> and, sometimes, he gets the best of me! He's knocked me down a 
>>> couple of times and once took off one of my shoes and ran away with 
>>> it! My family has started calling him by the nickname Larry gave 
>>> him: Dogzilla!
>>>
>>> fraternally yours,
>>> Marion
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "d m gina" <dmgina at samobile.net>
>>> To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, April 24, 2012 5:11 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] National Convention
>>>
>>>
>>>> OK what on heavens is smack down,
>>>> is this with a ball?
>>>>
>>>> Original message:
>>>>> Cindy and All,
>>>>>     Behind the Anatole, where the patio and relief area are 
>>>>> located, is a
>>>>> huge park called Anatole Park. It has a rubber path for jogging 
>>>>> and walking.
>>>>> It's a great place to play ball, Frisbee, or smack-down, my dog's 
>>>>> favorite!
>>>>> grin)
>>>>
>>>>> Fraternally yours,
>>>>> Marion
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>  ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Cindy Ray" <cindyray at gmail.com>
>>>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
>>>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Monday, April 23, 2012 10:24 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] National Convention
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>> Where do you go to the park for your dog to play at convention, 
>>>>>> Marion.
>>>>
>>>>>> Cindy
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> --Dar
>>>> skype: dmgina23
>>>>  FB: dmgina
>>>> www.twitter.com/dmgina
>>>> every saint has a past
>>>> every sinner has a future
>>>>
>>>>
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