IF BASKETBALL ISN'T YOUR GAME...

then don't bother reading any further. Because you probably won't think this is very cute.

But if you have a boy, or a dog, and/or a basketball hoop at your house...by all means, read on!

Got the boy registered Tuesday night for fall basketball. He's very excited. He loves basketball.

Last spring we also noticed that our girl loves basketball. Our girl dog, that is!

She would stand at the kitchen door and watch the boy playing in the driveway. And whine. So we'd let her out. She loved getting the ball, and watching it bounce and chasing it into the rocks. But when the boy threw it to her - we all were shocked when she tried to CATCH IT!

I think I even mentioned it in a blog post last spring. I was asked by my parents for photographic proof. But you don't play basketball in the summer - and you don't take the dogs onto the driveway in the summer. So the proof had to wait.

Until this morning.

The mornings are beautiful right now. There is a little crispness in the air. And the cement isn't 300°. So after breakfast, the boy headed out to the driveway to wait for carpool pickup, and shoot some hoops.

And the whining started right away. Guess she hadn't forgotten!

Door open, gold blur of fur dashing out of the garage and the game is ON.

Since it has been months since they "played", it took a few minutes to get back in the groove...


quite a nice vertical leap though - don'tcha think?

She missed this one completely...


but got points for not crashing backwards!

Here you see her technique - mouth wide open and paws at the ready...


A kind of canine three-point catch.

Once her mojo was flowing, the boy couldn't toss them fast enough. Here she is at full extension...


almost as tall as the boy, and he's about 5' 4"!

One final toss and catch, before it's time for the boy to leave...


and it was a beautiful one, tail wagging the entire time!

But then - she realizes what is happening. The boy is leaving for school...


game off! (Isn't this shot just priceless? You can almost feel the despair!)

She makes a gentle plea with me to continue the fun...


but a second cup of coffee was calling my name. Sorry girlie.

So there ya have it - this will be the routine now for the next several weeks. The boy will gladly jump out of bed in the morning, knowing he'll have an extra few minutes to shoot some hoops and make the girl's day!

And by the way - some extra conditioning might be in order for the girl. She is currently splayed out on the tile, still trying to catch her breath. I doubt she'll be moving for hours Too cute!

until then - - -