Max and the Blue Toy

Here is blog number 3 on our dog Max, the wonder-dog.  Max loves to play.  But Max is not like one of those slobbering dogs that thinks every time is play time.  No, no Max actually is very observant and careful not to disrupt our evening meal.  He kind of hangs around observing us as to when we actually finish the meal.  He will even give us time for conversation.  Then he looks for some kind of signal - maybe a pause in the conversation, maybe a glance in his direction - maybe a verbal acknowledgment.  Then he gets it - the blue toy.  It is his play time.  Not during dinner - after dinner.

Dogs are color blind so I'm told, but we have tried to help Max through identifying this particular toy.  The other ones make too much noise or he has a hard time gripping them.  The blue toy is that perfect blend of quiet and functionality.  Max is like the Cleveland Indians.  He makes spectacular over the shoulder catches, but muffs the easy ones.  When he was younger, you could never fake him out.  The border collie in him was riveted to your hand.  But like a lot of us, when he got older, concentration was an issue.  Now you can easily fake him out.  Not as bad as our previous lab who was a sucker for the fake out.  Max usually isn't faked out twice.  Anyway here is a snippet of the blue toy.