If there is anything Athena loves more than her morning pets, it's playtime. It is incredible the character changes puppies go through when you bring them home until they are adults. As I have said before, while Athena may not look like it, she is still a puppy, and her energy level shows that. Boy, does this dog have energy! When Athena was finally able to go to the dog park, we would spend almost every day there for an hour (especially during the summer). Even her playstyle has evolved. At first, she wanted to play with the other dogs predominately and had no interest in fetch. I would throw the ball, and she would look at me like cool, what's next. While she will still play with other dogs, it is game over if someone has a ball now. Suddenly, she must have that ball. I'm pretty sure she could hop at a 12-foot fence if she saw someone throw a ball over it. We love to take her to the lake or water. That dog could swim for hours, especially if she has a ball. My favorite part of Athena's playful nature is her bond with my boyfriend.
The moment he gets home, he runs outside and begins to throw her ball. It got to the point where she didn't want to come inside, but instead, she would run in and out to grab her ball, expecting to play. It's so cute the way her tail sweeps the floor back and forth if she's lying down. She hears him coming home, and she sits at the door with her nose pressed against the crack like she can smell that it is him. Or the adorable puppy bow with her tail high wagging? Did you know that different tail wags have different meanings? It's amazing what their non-verbal communication is. I used to get Athena all these other toys, but it didn't matter its durability. I give her 10 minutes max before she's torn all the stuffing out of the toy! Before long, I switched to getting her different types of ball toys (that is what she likes best). It also worries me the least of her inhaling something that she is not supposed to. Did you notice the supervised play warning on almost all dog toys?
Athena knows that my boyfriend will play with her the longest just as she sits by him during dinner, he'll drop the most food on accident (it's quite funny). We got her this new giant ball the size of a soccer ball, and she can't get enough. It has special rivets for her to pick it up, and it cracks me up to see her carry it around. She's also learned to play tug-o-war (I think he taught her that one more than I did). In addition to tug-o-war, Athena also enjoys throwing the ball for herself. I think it might be one of those things you need to see for yourself cause it is entertaining. While it can be frustrating sometimes when we want to watch a movie and she keeps bringing us her ball (we had to get rid of squeaky balls for this reason as well), we love her playful nature, and I love watching the two of them have a blast. Playtime to Athena is the best time.
With a wagging tail,
The Pawsitive Writer