I lost a playmate today, after a fashion. The resident Black Lab at the Ranch, Boo, lost sight in her remaining good eye over the last two days. She’d been blind in one eye for a year or so. Uncontrollable glaucoma, according to the vet. She’s almost ten, as near as I can figure. It’s been a long, active life for a Lab.
For years, whenever I came to visit Boo went completely wild. We always played fetch, her favorite activity of all time. She was the best fetching machine ever. I have proof.
When Boo was in her prime, she would fetch a Frisbee with glee, always bringing it back and quickly dropping it at my feet for another toss. Acrobatic catches, super-speed dashes to grab just before the disc landed; Boo did it all. She would retrieve until too tired to run. Then she would keep the Frisbee and begin walking back to the house.
As Boo got older, our Frisbee toss sessions got shorter, but not for lack of enthusiasm.
Oh, that proof? Well, one time, simply as an experiment, I gave Boo a nice, big hunk of steak. What she didn’t know was, I was also holding a Frisbee behind my back. As soon as she bit down on the grilled cow, I showed her the Frisbee. She spat that meat out so fast it was a threat to life and limb! Our Golden, Sonia the Red, didn’t mind, though; she’d rather eat than fetch.
Boo never noticed that somebody else got her meal. She got to fetch, you see.
She doesn’t understand that her fetching days are done, of course. She doesn’t have any sightless reflexes yet, and she bumps into stuff.
It’s time to rest, Boo. Eat all the leftover Christmas ham and turkey you want. I’ll just hang the Frisbee by the door, until Boo II is here and trained up…
Enjoy the (Black Retrieving Dog) Heat!
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