After a year of watching Adie chasing her ball (and looking like she thought little Miss Adie was crazy) Gracie finally GOT IT.
Last night I was at my desk and too lazy to get up so I made Adie bring the ball to me and toss it up on my lap. A couple of times I didn't get it in time and it rolled back onto the floor at which point Adie would retrieved it yet again.
The third or fourth time this happened Gracie went after it and ran over to the dog pillow I keep on the floor beside my chair. She chewed on it a couple of times and then just set it down. I was so thrilled to see her go after it that I praised her over and over again. She ate that up boy!
Next I tossed the ball up in the air instead of away from me and she watched Adie catch it on the bounce. The next time I threw it she went after it just as vigorously as Adie did but not quite as gracefully.
I then started throwing the ball out of the room so Adie would leave then faked her out the next time so I could let Gracie have the ball by herself. She went after it with a vengeance and returned to the pillow each time. She would put it down and then look at me with (I swear) a smile on her face. Of course she got mega praise!
We went from the ball to the screaming monkey. This is a toy that is kind of like a slingshot. When you shoot it it starts screaming as it goes flying across the air. Adie just loves it and can get it to keep screaming all night. Well, LAST night Gracie actually chased it down right beside Adie and stole it right from under her. She then hot-footed it into her little cubby hole. I retrieved it and shot it off again and the same thing happened!
I am just so tickled that Gracie has finally started to understand how to PLAY. She has pounced on a few toys in the past but whenever we have tried to interact with her she would stop playing with the toy as if we had scolded her.
I hope she keeps it up and I hope Adie gets over the shock of not being the only jock in the house anymore.
And where is Skeeter while all of this is going on you ask.......
Sitting in my lap trying his darndest to get my finger in his mouth so he can take a nap. (The big baby!)