Come play with Baby

They say playing with your dog is very important for its mental health. I say its detrimental for the owners mental health!

Here are some of the games we play.

Prison break!
Baby makes a run for freedom 'Braveheart' style and I run half naked and barefooted through the streets of Subang Jaya to catch her. The fact that she is tiny and a LOT faster than me, makes this game last longer and even more fun for her. The end game is when she runs out of breath, and starts running in spurts of speed instead of continously. Lucky for her, I'm normally wheezing and about to collapse by this time. So she gets away with it.

Poop and run!
Baby poops on Julian's bed and runs for her life when Julian lies down and feels 'lumps' in his bed. Normally ends with lumps on baby's poor butt.

Spot the wet spot!
Normally the spot is spotted with the feet. If you're lucky just one foot. If you're not so lucky both feet get soaked in baby's pee. She's become very adept at hiding her 'spots' and my family have become a lot more light footed!

edit: mom complained to me after reading this that not only did she step into a puddle of pee, she also slipped and fell in it.

Fetch... but its not for you!
Baby plays fetch... but not for you! She gets the item you've thrown for her to get, then runs along towards you. Thinks a while. Figures out, 'Hey, I ran all the way to get this, why should I give it up without a fight'. She clings on to the item for her dear life and refuses to let go; with mock growling and a wagging tail.

Play dead
Baby's a picky play dead player. She walks in a circle around mom on the bed. Carefully picking her spot to 'play dead'. Sniffing and nuzzling away, she'll finally settle on a spot that is most uncomfortable for mom and 'play dead' i.e. sleep for hours without moving. As long as mom is asleep, she's 'dead'.

Bury the bone!
Baby loves and I mean LOVES to hide her bones. And she loves it even more when people find her bones. Either by lying on it, tripping on it or jamming the vacuum cleaner with it. She also likes to bury the bone 'when no one is looking' (i.e. when everyone is watching) under cushions and pillows. She'll toodle away and come back later, expecting the bone to be there. Hell hath no wrath like a disappointed baby when she finds mom has removed the bone. Barking and whining ensue like no ones business.

Bounce!
Baby has a fascination with the vacuum cleaner. Its a love-hate relationship. She loves to watch it, but hates to have it close to her. Once she's even decided she'd had enough of the noise and pounced on the vacuum cleaner, only to bounce off.

Food for thought!
Baby digs her bowl when she's hungry. Or so you think! She normally digs her bowl at very momentous occasions. Such as 4am in the morning when everyone is trying to sleep, at the climax of a conversation.... or when I finally manage to connect to MSN after 30 minutes of trying.

You bathe me, I bathe you!
As the name of the game suggests, baby is a great sharer. Be it struggling for her life when you try to bathe her, ending up more wet than she is. Or just that frenzied shaking of fur that drenches your feet. She even manages to look smug in her own doggylike way.

Thunder strike!
Thunder doesn't strike? Does it? In baby's case it does. When thunder sounds, she'll start barking her hide off as if to scare it away. When she discovers this is not working as the thunder continues roaring, baby strikes! Jumping into the closest pair of arms or lap that she can find for shelter from the big bully.

Bigger is not necessarily better!
Baby loves picking fights with cats that are bigger than her! Size does not matter after all. She's also fond of trying to cozy up to big, rabid Dobbermen dogs that are growling their balls off at her. Talk about 'cili padi'... she's for real!

Migration!
Baby cuddles up to me quite often when I sleep. But as soon as she hears the aircon in mum's room turned on, she decides to dump me. Not for greener pastures... but COOLER pastures...

Catching!
Baby will run when you stomp your feet and chase her. She'll run and run around the house at top speed! Jumping sofa to sofa, table to chair, basically every where. Then when she gets tired she'll run into her 'safe zone'; her cage. Basically a dog's cage is supposed to be its haven. You're not supposed to make her feel insecure in her cage. So I can't touch her when she's in her cage. She'll drink water. Rest. Then look for the moment you're distracted to run out again.
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So these are some of the games I play with my dog. Emphathise with me. Understand the panda eyes and stoned look I have. All my energy is sucked up by this tiny terror that I love so dearly.