The Tales of Lilly, The Mud Life Dog
Creature Comforts
by Karen Lee Turner
Lilly is quite an unusual dog in so many ways. She doesn't do regular dog things like pilfering food, she is hopeless with balls, and she doesn't destroy her toys, in fact she is a bit of a weirdo (she fits in perfectly here at Muddy HQ). Ok, I lied, when it comes to food. She has stolen, but in just over 6 months of being here the only thing she has eaten without permission is a small biscuit that I left on the side of the couch when I nipped to the kitchen to get a drink, and honestly who can resist a Jammie Dodger? It's not like she hasn't had opportunities to nab food off the side in the kitchen, she has, she just doesn't do it! As for the balls bit, we have discovered a lot about Lilly's sporting prowess, or lack of it, in the past few months. She likes balls, and has managed to lose 5 somewhere in the house, popped 3 more and likes to incessantly chomp on the ones that squeak, but we've discovered she is really rubbish when it comes to catching them! She has no spatial awareness, and can't catch anything - balls, toys or even food. If we bounce a ball she looks like she's ready, and will get that ball, but every time she either misses it completely, or it rebounds off her nose or chin. We've started celebrating like she's won Crufts on the very rare occasion she happens to catch it (more out of luck than skill). Retrieving balls is another of her idiosyncrasies, she like to play fetch, but her version of it consists of... - we chuck the ball - she runs to get it - more than likely she misses it, and has to do a double take - then she runs back towards us - all looks good, then she runs right past us and doesn't come back, even though she desperately wants us to chuck it again. She hasn't quite figured that she has to give it us back if she wants to carry on playing.
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