Houston, We Have a Problem...

Samson has a very unhealthy attachment to his "ball." This squeeky, brightly-colored, horned toy is truly the apple of his eye. He will go to the end of the earth for his "ball," and he'll let nothing get in his way. It is his one, true, obsession. He loves it like a fat kid loves cake, his desire is equally as dangerous.

We've learned to use this obsession for good, and it's a very effective training tool. All we have to do is show him the ball, and he'll do ANYTHING we ask, and thensome. I cannot tell you how many hours he's waited in silent Vigil while we put his ball away on top of the fridge (one of the only places he cannot get to.)

It is his goal in life to chew the ball to bits, in stages. Stage 1: disable the squeeker. We can't tell whether he does this because he hates it, or because he loves it too much. Stage 2: chew off the back end until what was once a ball is now a bowl. Stage 3: Chew off the feet.

Lately, we've been taking it away before he can get to the feet. A while ago, he started coughing, and we looked over just in time to see him throw up an entire foot. What once was dark blue was now a colorless, and gooey, mass. Needless to say, he didn't get a new ball for quite a while.

One day, we threw a green ball down the hallway. He lost it, and looked for about an hour before he came back with an orange ball! He'd lost the orange ball 6 months before, and just then found it. So, for a while, he had two balls... and he was in heaven!

We've noticed that whenever Samson has his ball, Sadie no longer exists to him. For the last few years, she couldn't have cared less. Well, as of late, she's started to goad him on to get his attention. When that doesn't work, she's started to steal his ball! The real problem is that she's started to chew on his balls too! He doesn't know what to make of this, and we can't tell whether or not she's starting to attach to the balls or if she's doing it to be vindictive. (She can be a very evil dog, you know.)

At the moment, we have 2 balls again, and I tested her today. She tried to steal Samson's ball and they got into it. She ran off with it, so I gave Samson the other ball so he could have his own. Well, they traded back and forth for a while, then she dropped hers and went for his! Maybe she's just trying to best him after all.

At the moment, Samson's chewing his toy as if nothing else existed. Where's Sadie? Well, she's napping next to me, exhausted from her evil ventures.

Thus the saga of the ball continues.