The Hunting Dog!

Ezzy is supposed to be a Labrador Retriever..mostly..or at least some. She has the appearance of the breed at least but is definitely not a full breed animal. Somewhere down the line she inherited some..ummm.."non-Lab" traits. This is A-OK by me as I have no desire to "show" her, I just need a companion while out and about the Bayou. She is a companion alright..sometimes, almost too much as she still thinks she is a lap dog! If you have ever tried to hold a nigh on 65 pound dog, you will know that it is not a likable task.

Today, I decided it was far to pretty to be stuck inside so I took aim at the mountain of leaves that had filled the hotbed or cold frame. This area needed to be cleared in preparation for my tomato seeds! I raked and raked until I had quite a pile of leaves scooting down the hill. Ezzy kept bringing me her ball and I would toss it down the hill for her to fetch. This went on for a bit until she tired and plopped down to rest. Soon enough, my pile of leaves covered her baseball! Oh, no! What was she to do??? Her ball was missing! She dove into the pile! She wallowed around in those leaves looking for that ball! Her nose was poked into the pile until the entire head was covered. Finally, she located her ball and brought it to me. She was proud as punch that she had retrieved it! Hmmmm....well, now.....again the ball was covered!

This fast became her favorite new game! My hunting dog was hunting...sort of! Ezzy would sit patiently for me to rake the leaves over the ball and then, once the command was given, she would pounce on the heap! With leaves flying in every direction she would tackle the mound. Her head would swing back and forth in the heap until she found her prey!

Now as I continued to rake, the leaf pile grew and grew. Still, Ezzy had no problem smooshing the leaves around until she found her toy. She knew it was in there somewhere! Rake, rake, rake..."Find the ball!"..POUNCE!..wallow..wallow..wallow..tah dah! "Looky, Looky! The ball..the ball! I found the ball!" She was one happy camper! She played hard..so hard that after a bit, she simply collapsed in a heap herself! She held onto her ball, though, as if it would disappear fully from sight. Perhaps she was afraid that the leaf pile would grow far too mountainous!

I did not get a lot accomplished even with the hour or so that I raked. Leaves still cover the yard in copious amounts but Ezzy seems to think that this was the best day ever! She had fun and I got a good bit of exercise, so I suppose that is all that matters. Some days..you just have to play! Rake..rake..POUNCE! Rake..rake...POUNCE! Whew!