Play ball

I decided to get out the newly purchased red/orange doggie tennis ball in hopes of wearing him out a bit!  He was really excited when he saw it in my hand.  I’d tried to play catch inside yesterday and then thought better of it…too many places for the ball to get lost under something.  So out to the backyard and zoom, he’s off after the ball.  He ran back towards me with it and stopped 5 ft. away, where he proceeded to start nibbling at the nap on the ball.  I called him to me and thus we proceeded to play “ball” sort of….   I’d throw it, he’d run after it, I’d call him to me and he’d run back with it and cruise up to me, but with no intention of letting go of the ball.  So it became a game of finessing the ball out of his mouth by sneakily grabbing hold of his collar while pretending I was “just” going to pet him.  After a while he started getting the idea and if I was fast enough in grabbing hold of his collar, he’d loosen his jaws a bit while I acquired the ball.  He’d be looking up at me out of the corner of his eye during this as he grudgingly let go.  He really does like to run and chase the ball though!  As the “game” progressed he’d roll on his back while I tried to get the ball.  Totally hysterical