TheFitDog on ball games

In his most recent blog post, Frankie the office dog promised a future post on the topic of balls. He is a dog of his word, so here is that post.

Hi again guys! I said I’d blog about BALLS and that’s what I’m going to do!

BALLS are really important. Most humans don’t give them enough thought. Unless you a footballer, cricketer or golfer I bet you haven’t even played with a ball in ages! More fool you. Balls are really important. If you ask me (or any dog), it’s no coincidence that the world itself is shaped like a ball.

Think about that for a second.

I am here to tell you all about balls and to inspire you to maybe run after a ball or two this week. So I thought you would probably love it if I went through my BALL collection with you and told you a bit about how I got the ball, what I use it for and why I’d recommend it. Let’s go!

1) Oldest ball

This is the first ball I ever found. What a day that was! Good times. It’s leather based and a bit tatty but that’s probably why someone threw it away. I don’t care. It’s like an old friend. Every once in a while I will dig this one out and have a play, but only if it’s a fine day with no mud underfoot. Plus it doesn’t kick very well. This ball is special!

2) Patchy ball

This was the second ball I found over the park. Are you getting a theme here? Again, it’s a fine leather ball, no real reason to get rid of it, but sadly some people discard their balls once they get a bit old. This one is great for chewing.

3) White ball

Now we are on to the actual workout type balls. This is what you’d call a workhorse kind of a ball, an every day ball which you can rely on to kick really well. It’s more a plastic vinyl type material. It skids really well on dew and snow. When Mark kicks it, it goes miles! When Nic kicks it, it doesn’t go so far. Sometimes it doesn’t go anywhere. Nic isn’t very good at kicking. My favourite thing to do with this ball is to wait til it bounces then jump up and catch it mid-air!

4) Blue ball

This is the third ball I found. Can you believe there are so many unwanted balls out there been discarded by their owners? Blue ball used to be my everyday ball but it’s a bit deflated now. But it’s great to have a blue ball because sometimes I fancy a change of colours.

5) Rugby ball

This ball is stupid. When it bounces, it goes off in another direction?! Mark says this is the whole point. I find it very frustrating and I feel sorry for rugby players. They must spend their whole time wondering what the hell is going on! I don’t really like playing with this ball, but Mark does, so sometimes we have a quick kickabout. Plus it’s actually Mark’s ball anyway and he doesn’t like me to chew it. Are you a rugby player? Does the weird ball annoy you?

6) Orange ball

There is a great story behind this ball! I was on a normal everyday walk with Nic when I saw a garden full of old balls. I was transfixed and I just stopped in my tracks and stared, wagging my tail. Seeing all those balls just made me feel so happy inside! Then a lady came out of the house and Nic thought maybe she’d be cross so she explained that I love balls and was just having a look. The lady said “well my kids leave them all over the garden and I think your dog would appreciate them more anyway” and gave me one of the balls! It’s a brilliant ball because it’s a totally different size to all my other balls, and it’s bright orange, and it was a gift. The greatest gift of all, you might say! Anyway on a related note, that whole walk is a great example of why you should always be optimistic in life. On paper, it was going to be a boring weekday evening walk in the dark. In reality it turned out to be a walk where I got given an orange ball by a stranger! Stay positive guys and remember that sometimes the most ordinary things turn out to be the most amazing!

7) Golf ball

This isn’t really a ball I play with but it’s a fun one to add to my collection. Nic found it once whilst we were walking. The funniest thing about it is that the golf course it comes from is like five miles away! That person must be a really good golfer! Please note this ball is no good for bouncing or chewing. It is OK to push around the carpet and chase for a bit.

8) Comic Relief ball

This ball is a blast from the past. When I first came to live here, Mark and Nic used to bounce it at me because it makes these freaky laughing sounds. I went a bit mad to be honest with you and Mark and Nic took it off me. But they only put it on top of my crate: I might have been a puppy but I wasn’t born yesterday! I found it again straight away. It now lives in a drawer in the kitchen. I might ask for it this evening and have a laugh.

Gosh I didn’t know I had so many balls! It’s ironic, really, because I don’t have any *you know what* balls. This man who is called a vet stole them from me whilst I was having a nap at his place. I’ve asked around locally and it seems this man has done this a lot to many, many dogs (and even some cats). No-one has intervened and to this day he is still carrying on with this practice. What a greedy man! How many balls do you need? I mean, I know I’ve just listed eight but he must have loads more than that now. And what does he do with them? They’re no good for chasing!

Bye, guys! Have fun doing a kickabout or ball-chasing session this week! Just make sure you drink tons of water after.

EDIT 08/03/12 Since writing this post, we have discovered another “white ball” and also a tennis ball in Frankie’s collection

TheFitDog on ball games is a post from the Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.