The Day Father and I Taught Sandy to Play Fetch

Father had originally told me that I could only take Sandy to the shop, but for my sixteenth birthday, he decided that I was old enough to take Sandy to the park. It was going to be a super good day because on the way, I counted five cars on the way to the park. The equipment at the park was red except for the jungle gym, it had yellow on it so we did not go anywhere near it.

The park was not many people at the park today because it was very cloud and looked like it was going to rain, so most people stayed inside. This was fine with me!

I had brought Sandy's rubber ball with us so that we could play fetch. Sandy is just a puppy and is not very good at playing fetch yet. She will go get the ball, but lie down and chew it. I have to go to her and get the ball and throw it again. After a while, I got really tired of chasing Sandy so that we could play fetch, so we headed home again.

Before we left the park, Sandy had to go to the bathroom. There were signs posted everywhere that said, "Please be considerate. Pick up after your pet." I remembered to bring Sandy's "pooper-scooper" with me. This was the worst part of having a dog. I hate having to pick up after her, but when she was done, I picked up her poo and put it in a trashcan that was nearby.

Then we headed back towards Father's house. Today was the day that we were going to pick the garden. I was excited to eat the carrots and peas and spinach that we had grown. (We picked the garden last year too.) After I had eaten with Father, I went home to Mother. Mother and I watched T.V. for a while and then decided that it was time to go to bed. She spread her hand out and I spread my hand out and we put them together. Then we went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up and went and got Sandy again. We were going to the park again today. Father was going to go with us so that we could try to train Sandy to actually fetch the ball. He says he feels more comfortable coming with me knowing that we are playing fetch so that he can help me catch her if she runs away. On the way to the park today, there were just three red cars, so it was just going to be a quite good day; this made me a little afraid to let Sandy off of the leash, but Father was here, so he could help me.

We took the leash off of Sandy. Father walked a couple of feet away and I stood near Sandy. She was sitting down. I had the ball and I threw it near Father and I told Sandy to fetch. Sandy sat there for a second, so I said fetch again. This time she got up and ran towards the ball. She laid down and chewed on it after reaching it. Father told me that I should call her to me, so I did. She came, but left the ball, so Father stepped forward and threw the ball to me. We tried it again. This time she went on the first command, but she still lay down and chewed on it. I called her again. This time she did not come, so I went to her.

I took the ball out of her mouth, patted her head and told that she was a good girl. I threw the ball again and told her to fetch, yet again she did not bring it back. I was getting really mad, but I went to her again and repeated what I had done the last time. I threw the ball again and this time Sandy came back with the ball in her mouth. The hard part was trying to get the ball out of her mouth, but I finally did. I gave her a treat that Father had brought with us. We played fetch for a while longer and then Father said that it was time to go home to eat.

Sandy acted like she had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped. Father picked up the poo this time because he knows that I do not like having to do that. I was very thankful. Father asked what I wanted to eat for supper and we agreed on the fresh vegetables again. Tonight, I was staying with Father. We stayed up and watched T.V. for a while and then I called Mother to tell her goodnight. Father spread his hand and I spread mine and we both went to bed. Sandy went with me. Today was quite a good day. Sandy had learned how to play fetch.