The Tennis Ball

As brother and sister, Beckett Blue and Jack Daniel couldn’t be more different from each other. Jack, the oldest, is a 7-year-old Miniature Australian Sheppard who has an intense interest in tennis balls. Beckett, a youthful 5-month old French Brittany Spaniel, is a girly girl!  She likes to flit around and get into whatever suits her fancy on any given day. And like any girly girl, she changes her mind frequently. What delights her on Monday, may become extremely boring for her on Wednesday.

One of Beckett’s favorite past times is to tease Jack. It didn’t take her long to realize that Jack lives and dies by chasing and conquering the tennis ball!

And why not? Jack is no different from any dog in the world. All dogs were born to serve a purpose for mankind. Even dogs that are mix breed have dominant behaviors within their own personalities, that serves human owners in some way.

For instance, I own a mix breed Labrador. Labs fall under the sporting dogs group, which makes them perfect for hunting birds and small game. Other dogs might fall under the working group, which makes them suitable for therapy, herding or guarding, and so on. In total, the American Kennel Club recognizes 7 breed groups.

Although Jack technically falls under the “working group,” some might argue that the American Kennel Club should create a new group that would fit Jack’s more down-to-earth, unique personality. An appropriate name for the group might be, the “Tennis Ball Group.”

Jack is one those dogs that lives and dies by tennis balls. His entire purpose in life is to chase, and thereby, conquer the allusive tennis ball. (Chasing squirrels, birds, or other toys simply doesn’t it cut it for him.) If he fails to achieve what he considers, this remarkable feat, he feels as though he has failed to reach the pinnacle of his own personal success.

Beckett thinks that’s hilarious! She loves to watch Jack obsess over tennis balls. Unfortunately for Jack, Beckett is a lot faster, and a lot more athletic than Jack could ever hope to be. Beckett’s legs are three times the length of Jack’s and her stride is more than twice the length. She knows that her athletic abilities are superior to Jack’s. But she also knows that Jack’s dignity as the only male in the family, rests on the ability to “get the ball.”

So, when someone throws a tennis ball during play time, Jack and Beckett will chase it, but with a slight difference between the dogs. Jack runs with intensity. He’s determined to get to the ball first so he can claim it as his own. It’s imperative for Jack to prove to Beckett that he is the HE-MAN-DOG! And as a he-man-dog, he’s superior when it comes to tennis ball retrieval.

Beckett really doesn’t care. She appears to skip towards the ball. That is, until she wants it. The fact is, she knows she can reach it before Jack. But she holds herself back allowing Jack to win the contest.

When Jack gets the ball, there’s a celebration between the two dogs. Beckett congratulates Jack on his wonderful achievement. She’ll even run around, jump with joy, letting anyone who’s watching know how wonderful she thinks Jack is.

But like any bonafide “girly girl,” sometimes Beckett feels it’s necessary to put Jack in his place; to remind him that she too, is important and can also retrieve tennis balls quickly and efficiently.

So, when Beckett decides Jack is behaving a little too uppity, she will display her athletic prowess and retrieve the ball to Jack’s dismay. Of course, that’s only the beginning of her fun. She will literally run circles around Jack holding the ball in her mouth. By then, Jack is totally outraged that this young ingénue has the gall to tease him to his face, running around with a tennis ball in her mouth.

He’ll look around helplessly, almost asking what he should do? In the meantime, Beckett is completely entertained by Jack’s distress. The more he shows his aggravation, the more Beckett will dance around with glee, all the time securely keeping the ball in her mouth.

Recently, however, Jack has taken a more strategic approach. Rather than to fall under her spell and chase her, he has found that by behaving indifferently, Beckett will begin to lose interest.

That’s right. Jack realizes that Beckett is having fun at his expense. So rather than to chase her, bark at her and showing other signs of exasperation, he merely sits and waits.

At first, Beckett tests him to see if he’ll chase her. When he doesn’t move, she’ll approach him gingerly, disappointed that he’s no longer willing to play along with her game. The moment she lays down the ball, Jack will spring into action and grab it!

Oh, the joy! Jack now has the ball in his mouth! He has won! But Beckett has also won! She is so happy that Jack has achieved his objective. She celebrates along with her brother at his success by finally retrieving the ball.

It’s the happy ending to a happy story. It’s so good to be a dog in this wonderful household!