The Bunny Hop

Falling oak pollen, budding trees, and the abundance of cottontails making our yard and field their home are a constant reminder that spring is here.  Longer hours of daylight mean more opportunities for evening hours games of fetch.  Pumpkin embraces this opportunity!  One of the “P” puppies from HOTLR alum, Juno, Pumpkin is a retriever through and through.  Channeling greyhound thoughts, she will tear through most terrain in a sleek, hair-blowing-in-the-wind fashion to fetch a rolling ball, Kong, or anything else in her path leaving no doubt that she is “all dog.”  That is until she catches up to the moving object. In a combo movement of bunny-like hop and cat-like pounce, Pumpkin completes her fetching mission. If she manages to surge ahead of said moving object, she’ll wait and crouch in a hop-ready position to pounce on the incoming object.  A similar maneuver is performed upon tossing the ball her way.  In a sitting position, she’ll follow the ball through the air with her eyes and will then spring up with her back feet and seemingly try to catch the ball with her two front feet- not her mouth. Too much time spent chasing bunnies in the field, perhaps, has influenced her style.  Her humans love her unique grace, and Pumpkin has never left a ball un-fetched!  How does your Lab celebrate springtime? 

 

 

 

Written by Lori Burkhardt- HOTLR volunteer, former foster mom, adopter, and dog lover