Because the heat is just too much to expose our pup to for long periods of time, he gets easily bored. Being Sunday, our pack is all together enjoying the AC and some peace and quiet. After watching a movie, Chief became restless, went to the back patio door and stood, waiting. He wanted to go out to play, however, when we opened the door for him, he wouldn't budge. Opening that door felt like opening an oven door. It's 105 degrees at 4 p.m. on June 19th. Summer hasn't even officially arrived.
In situations such as this, I have come up with a great way to exercise his mind as well as his body. A game of Find the Cheese. Our good Boy loves him some cheese. To him, it's as good as ball. As a matter of fact, I think he would pass up ball for a piece of cheese. I don't give him cheese that often, and only as a treat/ incentive, so it works very well for this working game. Since I had hubby home today, instead of just hiding the cheese somewhere in the house for Chief to find,
I hid with a piece of cheese while Jay "sent" him. It's amazing to watch him work this way, but even more fun to be the one found. Granted I have stinky cheese with me, but I like to feel as though he would find me without it. His reward is the cheese and our praise. Oh how excited he gets when he finds me!
J and I marvel at Boy's instincts. We are proud of him and love him dearly. I sometimes joke that Chief is J as a dog because they share so many qualities. I like to think I'm the buffer, the soother, the calm one. Yet I feed off of both's energy. And I LEARN from them. They both solidify my loyalty and tenacity. Had I a fraction of their ability to stick to anything, I would be a much more confident person. I will just keep working on that. In this way, I suppose while I am challenging Boy, he is doing the same for me. Besides, who wants to be bored in life? And life with my two guys is anything but boring. Sometimes it's work, sometimes it's play, and for Chief it almost always is both.
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