Today, I consider myself a proud father

Now don't get your hopes up, we haven't had the baby just yet. That will come in a week or two (I predict April 23, 2010.)

No, today was a day that I spent playing with the dog while waiting for mom to come home. I almost thought, just for a brief moment in time, that my dog could be an agility dog. Forget the fact that when he fetches, he forgets to return it to you. Ignore the fact that he is somewhat independent and does what he wants to do in the middle of the yard when he is not on a leash. You can also pretend you don't notice that he is easily distracted.

We were playing with three tennis balls. I threw the first one and he took off like a bat out of you know what straight for it. This was my first indication that he is not the smoothest of operators when playing. His eyes were on the prize, he was at full speed, and ran straight over the ball making a desperate attempt to grab it on his flyby. He then, trying to stop and turn around, ran into the neighbor's fence. At least he accomplished his goal of stopping. Once he came to a stop, I gave him a call. He again came running toward his ball that was still in my hand. As he approached, I decided to give it a little toss in the air, leading him just a bit. To my astonishment, not only did he continue on his path through me, he decided to leap for the ball, which he successfully caught. He then kept running in his current trajectory (this time there was no fence to stop him.) When he finally slowed enough to turn without rolling over like an SUV during a high speed maneuver, he set his eyes back on me. I was still holding another tennis ball and he was dead set on getting it. As he came running my way, I tossed another ball. He missed this one, but I did notice that his current jumping height was a dramatic increase over his previous flight. I gathered the loose tennis balls and continued to play with him. I confirmed again and again that my dog has a pretty good leaping ability. At one point, I do believe he was at shoulder height. I was quite excited that he was playing and dropping the ball to get the next one. I was also very proud that my little boy could jump. Let's just hope that he never realizes that that the fence is no taller than the top of my stomach in some spots.

As if that wasn't enough to boast about, when I released him from the couch after dinner tonight (we make him sit away from us while we are eating in hopes that once the baby is here he will not beg at her high chair) and gave him his treat, I decided to toss it to him. Typically, this action makes him flinch and curl up like a person that knows they cannot catch the object that is about to hit them. He usually lets it fall in his general area or bounce off his head. Not tonight!!! He finally caught the treat. Mom and I gave him such loud, boisterous praise that he got very excited. I tossed him another treat and he caught it again. Maybe there is hope for him after all.

Maybe not... as I look at him right now, he is licking the glass of the sliding door and chasing a moth. Hey... a dad can still hope right.

Patrick