Antisocial

[Heidi & Milton]

In less than a week, Milton turns one-years-old!  It is hard to believe.  When Milt dog was a young pup, he was always the first to rough and tumble with another dog no matter how big or small the other guy was!  I loved how wild Milton was about other canines and how he was just so darn social.  

Growing up as a supreme introvert with a small circle of close friends, I was absolutely thrilled that our dog was an extrovert!  I really think in life, you have an easier go with it if you can be at ease in the presence of anyone.  It is quite the gift to be born with or skill to develop in later years.  Our goldendoodle was born a supreme charmer of both two-legged and four-legged creatures.

Unfortunately, our dog is becoming more antisocial on a daily basis due to one major reason...!  First of all, on work days when he stays home, I always take the Milt to the local dog park in the afternoon. I used to take him for another long walk, but those twice a day walks were tiring me out but not him! Rather, a solid two hours at the park can wear the dog out for the remainder of the evening. 

Milt dog used to play around with all of his buddies there - frolicking and cavorting about with a heavy heap of wrestling, biting, and tumbling thrown into the mix.  He loved to meet, sniff, and greet every single dog that walked into the park.  He was Mr. Charisma.  Now the Milt dog just has one focus in life - ball.

A dood and his ball

Milt lives to play ball - throw, fetch, and throw again.  It is his passion; retrieval is his new found hobby. When the other guys run up to play, Milt dashes and dodges.  It is like he thinks he is in training for the Doggie Olympics.  He just wants to run his bouncy ball back to the thrower.  Not only has our dog turned introverted, but I can no longer leisurely read a good book while kicking back at the dog park.  I need to be out there hurling that ball; the embarrassing bit is if Milton gets distracted by some other ball play, or I am not quick enough to get the ball from him, he will go to someone else to fulfill his need.  Oftentimes, when I am attempting to read a book or make a phone call, Milton will just waltz on over to someone else for a throw.  It certainly makes me look like a bad doggie parent, but I think any of us who attend the dog park on a regular basis (and there is a definite crew!) is more than willing to help out a fellow pup in need.  It just makes me look like a bad parent!

Milt likes to cool off his ball (oftentimes his feet too!) in the communal water bowls...!

Why am I writing about this on the week leading up to Milton's first birthday bash?  Well, we plan to have an exorbitant amount of tennis balls available for play, so I am just hoping that he interacts with all of his little friends instead of getting sidetracked by his real calling in life - fetch.  Every guy needs a day off from serious training, so hopefully Milt dog will take advantage of that on his big day!

To read more about Milton the Goldendoodle please visit www.goldilocksandherdoodle.com

[Heidi & Milton]

Ah, Lonnie!  Milt and I were just at Home Depot Garden Center deliberating on which plants to buy!  Each individual one adds up to a big cost, and with the Texas heat and the Milt dog running around, it could be an extravagant endeavor!  Libby burying her ball must be awfully cute though!

[Heidi & Milton]

Marnie, your video is adorable!  Milton is the exact same way; these boys are persistent for sure!  I can't believe how tall Stanlee is.  He gets the hair in his eyes just like the Milt too!

[Lonnie & Libby Lu]

Fetch is fun!  The only trouble with Libby is when we play fetch outside she does not bring it back to us.  She wants to bury the ball in our plants!  Yikes, and as she does this, she destroys the plants.  In the house she brings the ball back to us like a trooper and loves the "game"!  go figure!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Awww Milt is growing up. You are describing a pattern I've noticed in our dogs, too. Kona is completely ball obsessed at the park or beach. We hide them at home! 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Milt - ask mom for fetch all you want - you are part retriever after all!

Luna is very cautious around any dogs that are not her "buddies" and has been since she was about Milton's age.  She will only play chase with unfamiliar dogs and only if they don't get physical with her.  Wrestling is reserved for her BFFs only!

[Pat and Traveler]

This happened with Trav, too.  As a youngster, he loved to play with any and all dogs--chase, wrestle, etc.  Now he wants to play ball!   He's just not very interested to others of his species.   

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

I love that he loves ball!  Bender does too but will only play fetch indoors.  I think he gets distracted too easily outside

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Bexter loves balls too!  He is constantly bringing them to me to throw for him.  I think it is the retriever in there maybe.

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

Bad lighting and no sound make for a horrible video but he he is trying to get me to play with him last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wOYOibrZv0

 

 

[Marnie, Stanlee's Mom]

Stanlee is ball CRAZY!  My daughter and I thought it would be fun to get a dozen tennis balls and toss them onto the floor all at the same time.  I thought Stanlee was going to lose consciousness due to apoplexy.  He didn't know which ball to grab first, second, third, or what to do with the ones that wouldn't fit into his mouth.  He would hold one while batting around another and when that one got stuck under the couch or bird cage he could not grab a different one - noooooo, he had to have that ball back or the world was coming to an end.  It got so bad yesterday that I had to remove all balls within his reach so that he would sleep.  He got so excited and spastic yesterday that he puked and just kept going.  Isn't that nice?  Especially since we didn't know he had puked until my son came cussing into the kitchen to clean it out from between his toes...again.