Nala's Sad Ball

Since we don't have a fence yet, Nala spends most of her time in the house with us. It has worked out pretty well for the most part. She is a good guard dog and will bark when she hears noises or people outside. It's been a challenge, though, to keep her occupied. She is a high energy dog and we have learned that a bored dog is a naughty dog. She had socks and a bone to chew. Unfortunately, she couldn't distinguish her socks from other clothes that were not hers to chew so George decided no more socks. We thought a ball would be good for her since Nala is very good at playing fetch. In Kisumu, part of our morning routine after letting her out of her dog house in the morning was to play fetch to get out her energy. Now once she learns an object's name (ball, socks, bone, etc), she can bring it on command. We'll say - "get your sock" or "where is your sock" and she'll search for it. Then we throw it, say "fetch" and she'll bring it back. It has even worked for objects she is not supposed to have. She picked up some trash and when I said "bring it, " she brought it to me.

Korogwe is a very small town. Village is a more appropriate term. There aren't many choices in the market. When we first decided on a ball, George couldn't find any in the market. None. Fortunately, he came across a random tennis ball one day. It looked like a tennis ball, but it didn't really bounce. That didn't matter. It was perfect for Nala. Nala loved it from the moment George brought it home. She learned the word "ball" very quickly and loved playing fetch with it. She could also catch it in her mouth if we threw it to her.

Nala is a typical puppy who loves to chew things - her new tennis ball included. Within a few days, it was looking pretty ragged. Today, it finally came apart. Not having other toy options for her, we still threw around the pieces for her to play with. It is now in three parts - the green material on the outside and two rubber halves.

One might think she might get the rubber pieces when we asked her to get her ball. Nope. Whenever we said, "where is your ball" she brought back the green outer material. It's a pretty sad (and funny!) sight, but she still loves her "ball" none the less.

George is now looking for another ball. Until he finds one, here is what Nala will be playing fetch with...