My dog Wally, being a retriever, loves to retrieve things. Well...not just any things. He only retrieves tennis balls. I had a hunting friend remark once that the only way he'd ever be able to get Wally to retrieve a bird for him would be if the bird was coated in bright yellow felt. A couple of years ago, a guy I worked with at BL who also had a Lab brought in two cans of squeaking tennis balls for Wally. They're regular tennis balls, but they have one of those squeaky things in the middle (they're called Squeakers). I tried to give them to Wally to chew on at work, but it annoyed everyone in the office so I kept them away from him. They ended up in my box of belongings when I left that job and came home with me.

I mixed them in with his regular tennis balls for fetch sessions and over time, they've disappeared one by one. Lately, more often than not, I find Wally bringing a Squeaker to me out of the garage, despite the other 10 or so balls laying around. Now, the squeaking balls are the only ones he wants to play fetch with. They squeak when they hit the pavement and every time he chews on one. Suddenly, there is only one Squeaker left, and Wally now refuses to play fetch with a regular ball. If I can't find the Squeaker and try to throw him a regular ball, he'll pick it up then spit it right out and look up at me asking, "Where's the real ball?"

Now Grace has begun to retrieve. She's following her big brother's lead. Like him, she also only wants to play with the Squeaker. (I'm not sure if it's the squeakiness or the fact that it's the only one Wally is interested in). The thing is, Grace is much faster than Wally and can usually beat him to the ball. Once she has it, she's not so likely to bring it back to me. Instead, she likes to run off with it, and tonight in the dark, she lost it. Wally was not pleased.

My errand for tomorrow - find a place to buy more Squeakers.