TACKLE DOG FOOTBALL

We bought Scout a frisbee today. Marty refused to pay 25 dollars for the tough dog frisbee. Instead, we got the dollar ninety-nine hard plastic one at Walmart. It lasted exactly 5 minutes at the dog park before it snapped in half during one of Scout's "in air" catching attempts. Before it broke, there were a few precious moments of playtime. I chased Scout around trying to grab the frisbee from her mouth. I know, I know, I should call her to me and have her "drop it," but sometimes it is fun to just chase her around. I'd get awful close sometimes and the temptation would be there to just grab her neck like a steer wrestler and tackle her to the ground. I resisted the temptation, because the chances of our tackle ending with her on the bottom cushioning my fall were slim.

There was a time though, when things like skidding across the grass with my arms wrapped around the neck of large dog moving at lighting speed didn't stop me from doing fun things like tackling him! Infact my sisters and I once invented a game called "Tackle Dog Football." We'd throw a foam football to our Dog Spunky and then the three of us would wildly chase him around the yard. We'd race across the yard arms flailing wildly, voices concentrated in high pitched squeals hoping we'd be the one to magically get close enough to throw ourselves at Spunky and successfully tackle him to the ground, thus triumphantly retrieving our ball! Spunky, loved this game as much as we did and though it was three against one, he always won! I am gonna go out on a limb here and say that it was our standard "outdoor shoes" that slowed us down! No one ever explained to us that athletes, especially ones participating in sprinting activities, should sport foot wear other than rubber boots or vynal cowboy boots! I am also pretty sure that our jacket pockets, alway inevitably full of horse treats (oats and crunchies) also contributed to our lack of speed!

Today, in the dog park with Scout, I had no rubber boots or horse treat filled pockets but as I ran after her I felt like I did back then, happy and free and just as slow!!!