Dexter and me - day 2

My second day as dog daddy. Dexter is still Dexter. He's a little like a teenager - all gangly and a little uncoordinated. This morning, I was throwing the ball for him (here's what I use) in the backyard. Quite funny. Every time, he runs so fast that he can't pick up the ball on the fly and has to turn around to go back for it. As he approaches the ball, he lowers his head with his jaws spread - ready to snatch the ball from the clutches of the grass (that needs to be cut by the way). When he is over the ball, I can see him reaching for the ball, but his body doesn't slow down at all. Sometimes I swear he is going to trip himself up with his own face! At least once he crashed into the fence (or the bush).

He's been playing with a tennis ball that once belonged to my cats. I say once belonged to them because he has definately made it his own. It was once a brand new tennis ball! At least he is a bit better than some dogs I have known...Dexter's tennis ball still holds air.
He's funny though - he'll grab on to the fuzz with his front teeth and shake the ball for all he's worth!

As I said yesterday, I'm trying to keep him outside for a big part of the time he is here - he's use to it anyway. What he's not used to is being fenced in. It doesn't seem to bother him too much. As far as I can tell, he's getting out into the yard and exploring a little. Earlier today, I heard him bark a little (kind of a surprised bark). I looked out the window and there he was near the gate - being surprised by my neighbor's three cats. I'm not sure he really has a clue what to think about these little furry creatures. I'm pretty sure he knows what a squirrel is - he sees plenty of them at home, but what is a cat? He doesn't know what to do with them. And the cats...they do what cats do - look right at him like "what's thig big ole gangly kramer looking thing?". The cats know the fence is there so they're not too worried about him (of course, they're checking him out through the fence).

A little story that may not be suitable for the kids.....While we were playing ball today, he suddenly reverses course and walks over to the corner of one of my parking areas. In this particular spot, there is a lot of dirt that collects from when the rain washes the neighborhood - I get some pretty big puddles that deposit the residue from my driveway and ?? wherever. Well, all these neighborhood cats (mine included) are outdoor cats. A cat is a cat and you know they are going to use whatever facilities they can find. It just happens that all this dirt in the corner of my driveway is rather loosely packed and somewhat resembles a litter box.

Dexter makes a beeline for this corner of my driveway, drops the ball and picks up ...... something. At first I don't know what is going on, but then he turns around and has a choice morsel (read between the lines here...). Before I can tell him to drop it, it's gone. He looks at me with this huge satisfied look on his face. MMMMM nice little treat!

He was so proud of himself!

When he's not outside, usually he's about this close to me (I'm sitting in my desk chair as I am preparing this blog).