Joni Has a New Toy : or The Lost Red Ball Process

Posted by Ellie
 

This big red ball is mostly air with wonderful soft but strong rubber webbing that is most satisfying to run after and catch and chew (I imagine) and almost as much fun for us to kick and throw. The main problem with it is that it rolls. Of course all balls roll, but this one rolls without much outside influence. So Joni who loves to play with it shaking it and tossing it over her head, watches it with delight as it rolls away, then leaps to catch it and repeats the exercise.

The trouble is that our drive has a gentle slope and when the ball rolls past a certain point, Joni knows she can't go after it as it's outside of her boundary. So she sits and watches it as it makes its way down the hill, gaining momentum as it goes around the corner and out of sight, before it comes to rest, buried in some weeds or under a pile of (red) leaves at the base of a tree. As most of this playing and losing of the red ball is done while we are elsewhere, we have no idea that it's even missing until we look for it to play with her and find it… gone.

If she lost it only a short time before we arrive on the scene she might still be sitting staring around the end of the drive in the general direction where she last saw it. Usually by the time we are looking for it, Joni has moved on to other toys that don't leave of their own accord (such as the Frisbee) and looks at us blankly when we ask where it is.

She loved it as soon as we brought it home to her and this photo is showing her and the new red ball on the day she first got it. We still have it, but now have to reserve her playtime with it when we are there to keep an eye on it.

My posts are all on my blog at https://www.elliekennard.ca.

#hqspanimals +HQSP Animals curated by +Andy Smith +Nicol Eh and +Shannon Adelson

#Animalia (+Animalia) curated by +Adelphe BACHELET

#noapologies #bordercollie #puppy #JonisDiary #AdayinthelifeofJoni #fansofJoni

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62 Responses

  3. +Shelly Lamirande – Wow! 2 of them. 😀 Can you imagine? Joni loves to play with another border collie called Aria, whom she has known all her life, since she was a puppy. There is about 6 months between them in age. They really have a great, but very energetic time.

    I get that, +Antonella Maselli and they depend on us for their care.

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  9. Thanks you are probably the nicest and friendliest person online and can you give me a shout out pls and I understand if not btw my border collie had puppies a month ago and yeah they are so tiny she only had four though

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  37. I'm so glad you liked the 'I imagine' bit, Shelly. I liked it myself. 🙂 Thanks a lot, +Shelly Gunderson

    +Christina Lihani she is never bored and if all else fails she can always play with her tail, which she carries with her everywhere for emergency fun.

    Thanks a lot +Heidi Anne Morris – I really appreciate that comment. I thik you are right on the appreciation thing. I didn't get one like this until the early 80's but I know I never saw dogs in the same way again after that.
    We are saving up some pics for #dogweekend don't you worry. Of course she is named after a musical icon!

    Thank you +Sumit Sen

    But it's full of holes, so it's also green when it's on the grass, +Susanne Stelle – if I could have, I would have got a blue one. 😀

    Thanks Don. I'll pass on the praise! +Don Willard

    +HQSP Animals and +Shannon Adelson thank you so much for the kind reshare and comment.

    If I could have got a blue one that size, I would have, +Ursula Klepper – but they only had red. And that size is just right for kicking and for her to throw around. How great it is that these toys are everywhere!

    +Azard Mohammed you are so right, and it pays off so much to give them those in the right measure. It was hard work with her and still is, as she loves learning and I am still teaching her. But it is so worth it!!

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  39. Simply must share a dog story here. My son had a mixed breed, large, amazing dog named Oliver. Oliver would use cross walks in the city. Step gently in front of you if you were about to cross a driveway without looking. Sing (howl) on cue within a song written by my son. I could go on. However, if you threw a ball, stick or whatever, Oliver would give you a look that said, “YOU threw it, YOU go pick it up.” Chris, my son, was frustrated with this but it never changed until a few months before Oliver died. He was old, and full of arthritis so walks were generally just to a neighborhood park. At the park, Chris picked up a ball someone had left behind and absent-mindedly threw it. Oliver limped over, picked it up, brought it back, and put it at my son’s feet. He never did it again.

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    1. What a lovely story, Sandra. Dogs are just amazing (all animals are, I know) in so many ways. I can barely type this as my cat is butting her head all over me to show me her affection. It is so sad when they leave us. But the memories are ours forever.

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  45. What a beautiful dog 🐶 and a wonderfully written post x 😁❤

    My first dog was a collie. They are such an intelligent breed. I think that being in the company of such a smart animal at quite a young age helped me appreciate dogs for the rest of my life. I'm forever grateful for that experience.

    Lovely picture and joni is a great name too. X

    See you at #dogweekend joni! 😁 🐶👍

    Reply

  50. +Nige Turner – Joni loves loved her blue ball until she lost it last week (read comment above). They see blue and yellow, but can't see red or green colours.
    This is a great one, though, apart from the tendency to escape that is. 😀

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  53. They are really great +Phil Schappert
    We can't have any balls that roll (round balls) in the house any more since we got a hardwood floor. The ball does no harm, but Joni's claws will with her energy and enthusiasm. But this one is perfect. Her Hard Boiled softie toy is oval and fine for indoors as it is also non destructive and Joni can bounce it. It lost the cover a very long time ago (ten minutes after she got it). But the ball is still going strong.

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  55. Those Hollee Roller balls also make good tug toys, Elle…our Aussie, Lucy, loves hers. We have them in three sizes: a medium size for indoors — they're great because they don't damage anything they hit — and up to soccer ball size for outdoors.

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  56. +Lawrence Sauter she lost her blue ball in the local football field only last week. It's impossible that she lost it as the grass is short there and she was only out of my sight for 10 seconds or so when she ran to greet another dog and must have dropped it. We have searched for it for hours over several days and it's just gone, gone, gone!
    I can imagine that a GSD will put a lot of energy behind a snow bank pounce! (I use a red 'firehose' long bag in the snow. It tends to sit on the top or hardly go under at all. http://www.amazon.ca/Outward-Hound-30005-FireHose-Squeak/dp/B0002MISZ0 )

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  57. +Marc Briggs she is! We trained her on the Invisible Fence from a puppy so now she knows her boundaries really well. She won't even chase a squirrel over them. She doesn't need her collar on her to remind her even, though we do usually put it on her, just in case she goes to a far corner of the property and doesn't remember where the border is.

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  58. unfortunately, the small chuck-it balls get buried.especially when a GSD pounces in to the snow bank, lol…..the price we pay. I the feeling of asking your dog where the ball is, and they look at you , like "don't you know?"

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