As we write this, it is nearly dinner time, dark outside, and Piper is out in the back yard playing with her favorite toy, a 10" flower pot that she discovered last summer. Little did we know how much time and energy she would devote to what we affectionately call "Bucket". Bucket serves both as an interactive and a play-by-yourself toy. She plays her own brand of fetch (meaning that she will drop it on about one out of every ten returns after a throw), but mostly she runs across the yard with it, tossing it in the air with her head, boots it around, even drops it in the pond. Bucket has a rounded rim, which is easy to grab if you're a dog. Also has drain holes in the bottom, which allow Piper to snatch and carry using her canines.
One of her most creative ventures with Bucket is that of retrieving it from the pond. Once it's in the water, it often floats away from the edge, and initially she would wait for us to retrieve it for her. Before long she learned that if she paddles a paw in the water, Bucket will often float back to her, whereupon she grabs it and resumes the rowdy scramble around the yard with Bucket. If Bucket has sunk, then she is out of luck and needs human intervention. Sometimes a human will get it for her, and sometimes a human will not, depending on whether or not the human wants to go inside and have a cup of coffee. Our timeline for doggie-play is usually shorter than hers by quite a bit!
The picture above was taken this morning (Dec. 30), showing evidence of the surprise snow storm that hit this area last night. Piper loves the white stuff and has spent hours romping around in it. As you can see, Bucket is a bit the worse for wear by now, but still very much intact and worth every penny of the few bucks we paid for it.
