Friday, October 12, 2012

Ball Catcher



Our Shelties have the elegant prance of a fine thoroughbred horses. 

Mator, on the other hand, has the staccato strut of a windup toy. As he walks along, his short, pointy tail moves in perfect sync with his hind legs...back and forth, swish, swish like wiper blades on a car.


One ear is always up.


And the other ear flops down. 

My husband always jokes that he has one Corgi ear (up) and one Schnauser ear (down). 
The bit in between the ears is a mystery. 


Half way on the drive to the leash-free dog park Mator's short, stubby Corgi limbs start to quake with anticipation

Does he recognize the scenery and know where we are going? 

No longer able to contain his excitement, he dashes over and under the bigger dogs in the backseat to run from one window to the other on the opposite side of the car. He whines in a high-pitched way that almost sounds like birdsong and stretches his paws up to see out the car window, "Are we there yet?"

By the time the car has pulled into a parking spot, Mator has wormed his way to the front of the line and has his nose pressed to the glass of the car's back window. 

Opening the door is like launching a rocket. Mator is at the park's gate in under 5 seconds.


For Mator the park is one party after another.



For the Shelties the park is about getting down to business. 


They are all work and no play.


There are balls to be caught after all!


Lately Mator has been cutting in on their act. In fact, he has become quite the ball catching machine!

Mator has been even outstripping Scrap, who is our fastest runner. 



His true arch nemesis however, is Rusty. Rusty is not only the closest in size to Mator, he is just about as cute and loveable.

Mator does everything to bate and tease poor Rusty. He routinely stands at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Rusty to desend. There is a glint of pure mischief in his eyes and a set of little devil horns threatening to emerge from somewhere behind his ears. 

When poor Rusty reaches the bottom, Mator jumps all over him and gives him grief. 

Their rivalry extends to the park as well.


Oh, oh it's a car crash as Rusty grabs for the ball!


Hey Mator, no fair, I had that ball first! 


Hehehe!


It seems there is no stopping Mator now!

"Outa my way big boy, that ball's mine!"


Hehehe!

Have a great weekend everyone!

23 comments:

  1. That was so great, i love seeing dogs having a good time, and yours are so adorable, thankyou.

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  2. Haha, so funny - you have lovely dogs, mischief and all! :-)

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  3. What a handsome family. They certainly look like they are having a lot of fun.

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  4. OMG ! Jennifer this is way too cute! .. Your furry kids are all beautiful : )
    We knew friends with Shelties and they are truly such handsome dogs !
    Mator is a gigantic HOOT ! he thinks he is invincible and that is so endearing .. we don't have dogs (at the moment) but they do have a special "kid" way about them .. and you must smile and laugh a lot at their antics .. these pictures were fantastic Jennifer .. action packed, almost as good as being there to watch them have a "ball" hehehehe
    Joy : )

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  5. I LOVE this!! Your photos are incredible! I wish I could hire you to take pix of my dogs. This series of photos would be a fun children's book. :o)

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  6. What great pictures! I could really sense their joy through them. That Mater is a cutie pie, and a rascal, too, I suspect. But all of the dogs look adorable.

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  7. I have been waiting for a dog post from you for a while now. So pleased you shared this. Such fun, such exuberance, and so adorable.

    Now Casa Maripos'a idea of a children's book is a good idea!! Yes, incredible photos.

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  8. What a great action photos of your three dogs!! How did you manage this, for me it's so difficult. The first picture of the 2 shelties Rusty and Scrap is gorgeous and than Mator a real wind-up toy. I love them all. You can see shelties are working dogs and Mator a dog for fun and fun again. This was a marvelous blogpost for me, which I enjoyed with a big smile.

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  9. Jennifer,

    What fun to be able to let the dogs run free. Mator looks a little like my Reggie, but we would never be able to let him off the leash or he would be gone!

    Eileen

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  10. Too cute! You have some amazing photos there :-)

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  11. That Mator has personality with a capital 'P'! I love his ears!

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  12. Your Shelti reminds me of the dog my high school girlfriend's family had. Her name was Darby, and she had a very gentle and playful disposition. I have fond memories of Darby because Joanna and I would take her on long walks, allowing us to have privacy that was not otherwise always easy to get. Anyhow, enjoyed the photos of your romping guys.

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  13. Those Shelties are such gorgorous dogs and the rest all look like they are having a great time playing with the ball........

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  14. Your pets are so cute and healthy playing in a park, Jennifer! I love the Mator ears!

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  15. Awesome pictures! You have such cute dogs and they seem to enjoy themselves. I wish we could take our dog to a park like that too, but I'm afraid it wouldn't work...

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  16. Such great photos of your dogs in action! I love reading your dog posts. I can so relate to them. We have two dogs that are just two years old and full of energy and mischief!

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  17. Great action shots Jennifer! Love that one of the sheltie with its mouth open and the ball about to be caught. Love watching dogs romp and play.

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  18. Ha! I love all of these shots! Mator is just a cutie!! Makes me miss my pooch Cash! There is nothing like a good dog and yours all look so sweet!

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  19. We are fortunate to have a dog park within walking distance of the house. I think I look forward to our trips there as much as the dog, it is more entertaining than television. Our older dog, Loretta, just likes to stand in the middle slowly wagging her tail, aloofly ignoring the other dogs. Our younger one just likes to run and run and will play with any dog that doesn't overwhelm her. I also enjoy the peace that comes from their exhaustion once we get home.

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  20. dear jennifer, if there was an award for the best canine action photography, without doubt I would be recommending you get it. Cute, funny and brilliant! I think Potter liked the post too. What a spunky little doggie Mator is!

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  22. Such interesting photos. I enjoy the post and the dogs' play at catchball is truly amazing. Mator is the cute one at play.

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