The Blue Dude

The Dude loves his basketballs. He chases them, rolls over them and shakes them up when he gets a chance to sink his teeth into them. They are his favorite toy, and he loves it when I kick them up the driveway so they bounce high and roll back down.

If you watch him in action, you would swear that the basketballs are alive, and he's not going to let them get away. He's so intense about this driveway sport that he get's right up close to the ball, even when he knows I'm going to kick it.

I have had to learn how to kick the ball over his head when it's on the ground, just so I don't smash it into his face. Not that he would mind, but I'd hate to do that to my little Humper Dude.

Recently I found one of his special basketballs in the weeds. It's blue, and after a bit of play with it, the Dude was blue as well.

I felt a bit sorry for him because he looked ridiculous and didn't know it. Even if he was aware of it, I'm certain he wouldn't have cared much.

As long as he's having fun, that's the main thing he's concerned about. That, and chasing rabbits.

Apparently the blue coloring on the ball comes off easily after it bakes in the sun for a while. Instead of Cordon Blue we enjoyed a few moments with Cordon Dude before we got him cleaned up and a bit more presentable.

With his incessant licking, I'm certain he had a blue tongue for a while as well. Poor guy, and it wasn't even Halloween yet.

That gets me thinking. Perhaps I should take him into town and have him do a little door to door begging to see if he can get a doggy treat instead of candy. I know he'd like that.

The Dude is a basketball star

For a short 30 pound dog, you wouldn't ever pick someone like the Dude to be on your basketball team, but I sure would. I've never seen a dog handle a basketball as well as the Dude.

Basketballs are one of his favorite toys, yet it seems incomprehensible that he would enjoy them. First of all, they're too big to get in his mouth, so he can't very well carry them. But, that doesn't keep him from trying.

Second, they bounce way higher than he can jump, so they wind up out of reach so very often. Third, the top of them are so high off the ground that it's difficult for him to get his paws on them.

Nevertheless, the Dude loves basketballs. His favorite basketball activity is to jump up and try to catch the things as they bounce around. He'll never do it, but that doesn't stop him from trying.

His next most favorite activity with a basketball involves chasing it down the driveway and overtaking it by climbing on top. This usually results in him rolling over the top of the ball, and perhaps that's the thrill of it all.

If not jumping or rolling over them, he's pushing them with his nose. I believe that he thinks they are animated to some extent because he sure loves 'em.

I figure that since he loves tennis balls so much, he probably figures that a basketball is just a larger version, so there's bound to be more fun in it.

Anyway, if Dude's happy, then I'm happy to get him some basketballs to play with on the drive.