Random Cartoon

Can dogs obsess? They sure can, and studies on dog behaviour issues, obsessions, fears, additions and imbalances etc. have become useful when looking at and researching similar behaviour quirks in humans. Hell, even the medication used in treatments is the same at times.
Can dogs have additions? Oh yes indeedy...toys and food come first to mind. It seems that additions and obsessions often go hand-in-hand - one can be addicted to and obsess over anything really.
The above picture is Brandy's obsession and addiction. The coveted BALL. I don't know what makes it so good, so luscious, so needed, but to her, it is all encompassing when it makes an appearance. Everything else ceases to exist when the ball comes out to play. I guess we all have our idiosyncrasies - crazy dog.

No tooth? No ball.

Yes, I said it, and put my foot down. She knows, no ball, no bones, no toys. She doesn't like it, but she knows.

A loose tooth was discovered. I knew something was wrong in her mouth, the little pink tongue constantly flipping in and out like a snake tasting the air around her, but wasn't sure what the "wrong" thing was. I originally thought that maybe she bit her little pink tongue, but saw no evidence. So I searched her molars during our weekly teeth cleaning routine (she isn't a fan of the routine, but it's for her own good). Nothing.

I did it again the next week and found the offending item, and I'm really not sure how I could have missed it during the first search mission. A broken tooth, snapped in half, flopping around in her little mouth - her second one (though the first was many years previous). I'm not positive how it happened, but I have a feeling that the "head-caught-in-the-door-while-trying-desperately-to-search-and-destroy-the-vacuum", may have exacerbated the problem.

So this past Friday, she went in for the removal. A removal that went very similar to my impacted wisdom tooth extraction ... I was told a lot of digging, and I could tell from the pain afterwards that they must have dug right through my jaw bone into my neck looking for the roots. So, I felt her pain, but she did well, much better than I did with my removal, came out with one stitch and is on soft foods until tomorrow.

She is anticipating the re-introduction of her toys. Well, she didn't tell me in so many words, and actually that's me once again using anthropomorphization on the little dog, but I can tell that she's waiting with baited breath for the stitch to dissolve and the ball to be firmly planted in her little jaws. I can see it in her eyes. Only two more days...

The Dingle Ball

This ball, like any other ball, is a highly useful Jack Russell attractant. This ball, however, has a little dingle bell inside, which makes it's value skyrocket about 20 times that of a normal, non-verbal ball. This ball originally belonged to someone else, but was so highly coveted by my little dog, that it was gifted to her one Christmas. This ball, or any ball for that matter, holds the key to happiness in her mind.

Ready...

Set...

Catch!

Another older piece, and one of my favorites, of course because it is my favorite subject. And what better way to capture my favorite subject in a painting, than with her favorite thing in the whole world - THE BALL!

I titled this acrylic piece "Me and My Ball". The BALL in question is a red rubber "Kong Ball", and if your dog is BALL crazy, I highly recommend these almost indestructible play-things.

The BALL seems to be like drugs to my little dog. It doesn't matter if the world is coming down around her, as long as she's got the BALL, all is well.

The odd time she will moan about the cupboard where it is kept, waiting somewhat impatiently, for the door to be opened so that the BALL can come out and play.

Her obsession has subsided slightly over the years, but if the BALL is revealed, all hell can and will break loose. We did, at one point, use it as a reward for a job well done in the agility ring. That went sour very quickly.

Brandy isn't stupid, nor is she a "let me please you, and you alone" kind of dog. So once she found out that the BALL was not on course with us, well, it just wasn't worth while for her to stay in the ring. Granted we've worked on this as a training issue, however, the BALL is no longer allowed at agility events.

But, the BALL makes her happy - a little too happy at times, but happy none the less, and it's amazing the kind of joy that she gets out of a simple little round, red, rubber object. Makes you stop and take a second to appreciate the small things in life. Not necessarily BALLS, I'll leave that for the dogs, but the other small things, that seem unimportant in the big picture of things, but should never be over looked for fear of missing out on something that could bring a little bit more joy into our days.