Fun and Games

[Tango]

None of our other breeds of dogs we've had seem to have the ability to discover new ways of keeping themselves entertained like Tex our Sheltie has.

His latest thing is taking the end of the water hose while the water is running and prance around the yard with it in his mouth spraying himself and whatever or whomever happens to be nearby! My wife half jokingly claims that she could probably teach him to water the gardens! It is a hoot to watch. We have a hose caddy as well and he also makes sure that he totally unwinds the entire hose.

Other things he's discovered include:

pushing a big beachball / kickball around the yard with his nose like he's herding it,

jumping into a horse trough at our dog sitter's ranch the past few times we've had to go out of town without him!

What ways has your Sheltie discovered to keep themselves entertained?

 

[Ann]

I'd love to see Tex with his hose, David--you have to tape that one! Shelties are very inventive at entertaining themselves. Our Barkley is also a hose afficianado...he drives me nuts when I'm watering things. He will bite at the water coming from the hose until he's soaked, usually taking some leaves off the plants in the process. Pixie loves to capture the plastic measuring cup I use for their food, lick it clean and then slide it around the tile floor upside down like a hockey puck. And they all love to play herding each other around the house, with someone different "It" each time. But if we stop what we're doing to watch them, they stop! So we have to peek around corners...it's a riot--better than TV!

 

[jodie]

Jake loves to just sit and watch me Just watching - its really sweet, he's going through the motions of barking and getting all playful about anything he hasnt seen before at the moment too, if I wear something different he barks at me and ruffs around.

 

[elaine2004]

Jewel likes to take the plastic water bottles out of the recycling bin and toss them around. They roll well . She really likes chasing the fireflies at night she sees them light and just doesn't know what to make of it. And Thick cardboard boxes they make awesome teething toyboxes. I place all her toys in the cardboard box and she chews on the thick ends of the cardboard. If she manages to take off a piece she just discards it on the floor. I obviously had Jewel on my mind .:sadsmile: I mean Kia.

 

[Shelletlover]

Chasing bugs, (yes) empty plastic water bottles, (yes) or any lid she might get her teeth on. It's a riot to see CeCe chase an empty peanut butter jar around, we laugh when she's trying to get the last little bit out of the bottom. The other night she entertained herself with the contents of my purse. I thought I had put it up, but she had chewed in the checkbox, sunglasses, kleenex and some other stuff before we found her. Oh, she can keep herself busy, that's for sure.

 

[Chris]

Lately Layla's been hopping up on my bed in the evening, then stepping onto the large end table to "goodie shop." If there's nothing interesting, it's time to attack my toes.

 

[tehluhlah]

Smoke loves an empty 2-liter bottle. He is also a huge fan of all paper products, shoes, and socks. If none of these items are available he'll stoop to playing with his doggy toys

Smoke's favorite game is fetch, since frisbees are reserved for special occasions and training time we usually play fetch with a ball. If no one is around to play fetch with he chews on the ball. Apollo, on the other hand, does not need a human to play fetch with a ball. He picks it up, throws it for himself, goes and gets it, and starts over. Its hilarious to watch

 

[OntarioSheltie]

I'll describe this the best I can, but have you seen those door stops that are basically tightly wound springs with a plastic stopper at the end? They're about 3 inches long. They make a loud "boing!" noise when they are pulled sideways and let go.

Sadie discovered these when she was a pup, she absolutely loves playing with them! She'll walk up to it and start madly hitting it with her paw to make it go boing. She stands there, growling, barking and biting it, all the while continously hitting it. I don't know who's more entertained, Sadie or who ever happens to be watching her. Its really hysterical to watch!

 

[mcguiregirl2248]

All of these stories are so funny! Marlie and Zoe play a game with each other. When I let them out the back door you would think that I have two crazy dogs..... they get this crazy bark going and Marlie will spin until she reaches the steps of the deck and then it's a mad dash down. All the while Zoe is barking fiercly and nipping at Marlie's butt until she goes down the steps. Then the rest of the game begins. Marlie will run back and forth from one side of the yard to the other the whole time she is barking. Zoe proceeds to chase Marlie but never leaves the deck all while barking of course. If Marlie attempts to come up the steps of the deck, Zoe is right there to put a stop to it and nip her in the butt! The whole time this is going on Rasha is just standing there watching them like they are nuts!! It cracks me up every day, I'm sure some of my closer neighbors really appreciate the constent barking!

 

[Ann]

Tail Surfing!

Isn't it funny what personalities all our different Shelties have? These stories are a hoot. Shaun, you reminded me that my guys tail surf. It started with Pixie who used to run around outside behind Ivy holding onto the very end of her tail. Pixie taught that to Barkley, who now grabs tails whenever one of his roomies attempts to go out the door. They will then run around the yard holding onto tails--kind of like a train! It's a riot, and it does keep the barking down. But not much!