Throw in the dark

Ella's attention span isn't the greatest when it comes to games of fetch. She'll chase after the ball a few times but generally loses interest pretty quickly. In all fairness, it's hard for the ball to compete with the squirrels, pigeons, and mud puddles throughout the park. Poor ball. It even squeaks...and it still can't win Ella's undying attention. And all those other distractions mean plenty of opportunity for Ella to escape to...well, let's face it, she doesn't know where she wants to escape to exactly...she just wants to be free and figure all the details out later.

Anyway, here's a clip of Ella and I playing fetch at night in the park. A few things to note:

1) I've always told people not to be fooled by Ella's cuteness - that she is really a little devil in disguise. I hate to be smug but I do believe that her glowing eyes in this clip provide irrefutable evidence that she is in actuality an American-English-Devil Golden Retriever...

2) Apparently, "devil mixes" are inclined not to listen. As you'll see, Ella obliges me once and actually sits on cue, but the remainder of our session, she pretty much does what she wants. This is why we only play fetch at night - a) so she doesn't see all the other things that would ordinarily make her run off, and b) so that momma doesn't feel ashamed of being such an unassertive pack leader.

3) Momma can't toss a ball suitable for catching to save her life. You'll remember that I have previously talked about my bad aim. I don't know what happened...I used to be such a good athlete...Ella deserves a momma who doesn't throw like a girl.