I have two Harley stories tonight. First, I took Harley outside with me when I went to get my iPod out of my car. Harley is a fun dog and we love him to bits, but he has one really bad flaw. When he sees something moving, he chases it, whether it’s a rabbit, a bird, a butterfly, or a car. Since we have no fence, that gets dangerous. Usually he is leashed outside, either tethered just outside of the door or on a leash when he is walking with me. Unfortunately, that means he doesn’t get very much exercise except when Dad takes the dogs out to play fetch. Tonight, I wanted him with me, but I didn’t want to put him on leash, so I tried something different.
I took the laser pointer outside with me, which he loves, and distracted him with it. He ignored everything but that laser dot, and because it was dark, he could see it better than ever. He was having so much fun that I started swinging the pointer in bigger and bigger arcs, and before I knew it, he was racing from one end of our yard to the other. So, I took him down to Mom’s art studio and the students stood at the back door and watched him chase that thing as far as I could make it go and back. He probably ran half a mile or more, just running back and forth after the laser. By the time I was tired, he was panting, but still wanting more. I decided to stop while he was still enjoying himself. I think we have found a new way to get his exercise.
Mom and Dad bought me Nintendogs for Christmas, but they weren’t able to find the Nintendo DS Lite anywhere. We have been looking for it ever since, and today Mom found one. I played with a little Sheltie puppy I named Penny (after my Sheltie that died last March) and it was loads of fun.
Harley, however, hates it. It has a voice recognition feature and you teach the dog its name and some commands. It freaked Harley out when I talked to the virtual puppy. He got very jealous and climbed up on my chest, putting himself between my face and the game. I have never seen him like that. I finally put the game away and played with him. What else could I do?
That sounds like an awesomely fun way of playing with Harley, with that laser pointer. 🙂 You can get some crazy high powered ones. I had a friend who was able to highlight a house — very brightly, I might add — from an easy half-mile away. It was crazy.
As for Nintendogs — I had that at one point (back on my original Nintendo DS, not the DS Lite which I have and love and is actually currently in my shirt pocket), and Lisa was a bit too weirded out by the voice interaction, so I eventually returned it, but it was very cute nonetheless. 🙂
Great stories! When we had a cat, we played a similar game with a flashlight. We got tired a long time before she did!
Blessings.
yeah, laser pointers are awesome! hehe
yeah, the aminalz just want your attention, and don’t want to share it with some virtual pet. 😛
hehe, anyway that’s cool that Harley likes the laser pointer.