Charli gets it!

by CALLY
Tuesday afternoon at the beach, walking with Charli, splashing and meeting other dogs. There are wonderful waves, gulls, active dogs, kites, a surf-parachute, a para-glider, lots of swimmers & surfers and would-be surfers.......my camera is working overtime!? Charli loves the water, doesn't mind waves and is happy to say a quick hello to most dogs on the beach. We stopped to admire a couple of collies who were tirelessly chasing a ball flung by their owner.(To be accurate, the older collie chased the ball while the second just chased him at almost the same speed, completely ignoring the ball! ) Well, I was admiring them, with a touch of envy because MY dog doesn't "fetch". She won't chase anything I throw. So I watched these dogs and chatted to the owner. Next thing I knew their ball was deposited at my feet and the collie looked at me expectantly. Why not? O.K. So I threw the ball into the water. My god, was this dog quick. Before I could yell out "Fetch" the ball was already back at my feet.So I repeated it - lots of times - because it felt good to have a dog play so enthusiastically. (When I looked around for the owner he had rejoined his family sitting in the shade). Suddenly my Charli was dashing after the ball with them. Wow! My dog CAN do this. She was nowhere near as fast as the older collie but she sure was trying. So then I started slipping the ball closer to Charli. She missed the first few, but finally did catch it and bring it back. For us, that's a milestone. She clearly enjoyed the competition. I'm hoping we can develop this further. It was a great afternoon.