Truman
February 27, 2010
Truman is my 5 year old chocolate lab. His larger than normal stature lends to his lazy approach to daily life. There are a few times that he comes “to life” as a Labrador retriever is known. One of those times is when the word “play” is mentioned. His floppy ears perk up and his greenish-gold eyes lock-on to my every move. One step toward the door sends him into a ball chasing frenzy. His favorite game is tennis, though he enjoys playing golf, soccer, basketball or any other sport with a ball! His unique talent comes to bear when he returns with the ball, then with a flick of his neck he tosses the ball to me. Normally his toss has enough bounce to let me launch another volley for him to fetch up.
In the summer, he has another “Truman-istic” trait. After playing ball, his tongue is hanging so far out of his mouth it’s ridiculous. Well, we have a pool in our backyard and to cool off he takes a dip. While he is cooling down he makes several laps around the perimeter, then makes his way to the shallow end where he allows his hind legs to touch the bottom, then ever so carefully slowly paddles with his front legs to keep him balanced like a human…all the time while this is happening he grunts “um um um.” It sounds like an old man grunting!!! What a character…
Stephen Kocis
Dayton, Ohio