The closest thing to play for Dixie

DIXIE BEFORE WE ADOPTED HER

My wife Holly first bought a doggie snack called Charlee Bears for our mutt Lady. She's gone now, but Holly continues to buy the treats for our beagle Dixie.

Dixie doesn't play much otherwise, but she and I play our game when I break out the Charlee Bears. I'll flip one in the air; if it's close enough, she'll catch in her mouth. If it's off, she'll run for it.

A couple of times, I've landed a treat on her back; she's turned and turned until, finally, the low-calorie Charlee Bear has fallen off and she's gotten it. Sometimes I bonk her on the head; other times she knocks the CB down with her legs or head.

But Dixie isn't playing when we play this "game"; she's intent on getting fed.

I hate to admit it, but this is often the majority of exercise I've been able to give her lately. And it's the closest thing to play she's done in a long while.

(Dixie's snoring as I write this.)

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  TWITTER: EDITORatWORK

Other entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2015)

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• OOH! OOH! The stereophonic huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

EDITOR@WORK blog entries

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Good Samaritan

• The PRESS cap and my friend Mike

• Watching TV

• No luck with Billy Sims

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!