Thursday Fun

My Physical Therapist called in sick today.  Kaiser offered another, but I opted to wait until my next regular appointment on Monday.  (While the cat's away, the mice will play!)
;-)

The dogs love it when "Pops" joins them in the backyard.

Of course Riff knows exactly how to get what he wants from Pops. 

(Look cute.  Stare beseechingly.  Wag and wiggle.) 

And there it is! The green ring!  And a chance to run around with one of his favorite toys. 

The game isn't complete without a little competition, though....

....so Keeper obligingly teases Riff with the red ring. 

Keeper gets talkative at this point. 

Her little hums and barklets sometimes develop into a full-blown "Let's play!"

howl, which is not at all hampered by the fact that her mouth is full.   She's a noisy one. 

Riff likes to put his energy into Motion, rather than Sound.

She'll quiet-down and keep up with him pretty well, for the first few minutes. 

After that, 

Keeper prefers to rely on trickery and wisdom. 

She'll run to the Best Viewing Spot, 

where she'll make a few moves that remind me of my old cutting horses,

while Riff runs around with no apparent plan....

or she'll lay down under the azalea bush (her Very Own Bush - the one she taught him to stay away from)....

or she'll drop the red ring in the ivy and then pick up the green one, while he's busy looking...

or she'll just let him have both rings

and run unencumbered, 

taking the short cut by the deck,

panting easily,

saving energy...

...while he continues zooming around at about 110% capacity.

Ah, youth.

Their game reminds me of one of my favorite quotes:

"YOUTH IS A GIFT OF NATURE.  AGE IS A WORK OF ART."