Playtime for Puppy!

Hello Friend!

I noticed that a few of you asked similar questions on our Facebook page about whether or not I get to play like a normal puppy dog. The answer is yes, although I've learned a lot about play in the past few weeks!

As a puppy being raised by a volunteer family, I got to play all the time! I played in the pool, caught frisbees in the yard, and raced around with a cocker spaniel. I also got to play once I returned to The Seeing Eye. All of the dog kennel runs are attached to a large yard for 20 puppies to play together. That said, I was rarely in the action. I was first to go belly-up and preferred to sleep in the sunshine. My trainers would call all the other dogs inside after playtime and would have to come out to get me and wake me up.

Being a working dog is exhausting! I was so sleepy while my new mom and I trained at Seeing Eye. I never played with my kong toy there and hardly played with my stuffed animal toys that my new mom got me. Then I met my new brother and everything changed.

I thought brothers looked like me. I had brothers in my litter. My favorite brother was Rex. He passed as a Seeing Eye dog just like me. I had other siblings graduate as well! Of the 10 of us, six are going to be or are already Seeing Eye dogs. But this isn't what my mom meant when she said I had a brother to meet. No, nothing could prepare me for Coda!

My mom's parents have a Weimaraner named Coda. He's a little younger than me, and my new family says he's still an immature puppy. I think he's pretty cute. But he's also loud, playful, and has endless energy, sort of the opposite of me. Still, I was really excited to meet him. After all, I can tell he and mom are buddies. And a friend of my mom's is a friend of mine! So I met Coda when as came home from training. He's huge! He sniffed me all over and gave me super big kisses. Then, he pounced on me! He wanted to play!

My mom allows me to play, but she stops us when we get too crazy. At first, Coda was the crazy one. He would pounce on me while I was trying to sleep! How rude! But then I realized that he wanted to teach me to play! I'm a good learner, so I watched him. Slowly I learned not only to play with kongs and other toys, but I also learned to start the play by batting Coda with my paw!

The problem is that my version of play will never be as big and crazy as Coda's! He thinks we should run and jump for hours. He also wants to growl a lot (in a tail-wagging friendly way) which my mom objects to immediately. I think play means run around for a minute and then sleep for an hour to recharge.  But I'm so happy my brother taught me to play. It's so nice to have a break once in a while!

I also got to play when my mom and I visited Seattle last week. My mom has a brother, too! His name is Andy and his wife is Kara. They have an awesome house! I got to run up and down their staircase and all around their fenced yard! I think I love Seattle. Andy tried to hold me captive in his room though when my mom was trying to leave for us to go to the airport. He wanted to keep me! I loved playing at his house, but I'm pretty sure I would miss working with and helping my mom. I think we just have to visit more often!

So to answer the question, yes I play! I can even play with other dogs in very controlled settings. My mom said her cousin Nathan has a dog that might be a less intense playmate than Coda sometime. I am so excited to keep learning how this whole play thing works. Thanks for teaching me, Coda!


Keep asking us questions, please! Just private message on our Facebook page. Please also help us get more likes to our page. Invite your friends!


Wagging and Playing,
Renee the Seeing Eye Dog