In addition to the marathon runs at record pace Ella drags me on every morning, I have also started integrating some “off-leash” time during which we play fetch with her favorite toy (her Cuz) and her frisbee. I say “off-leash” because of course Ella doesn’t listen to momma nearly well enough at this point, so she has to stay on her 30-foot training lead. And let me tell you, I have such a love-hate relationship with this training lead. On the one hand, it has given momma a shot in hell at stopping Ella before she sprints off after a squirrel. On the other hand, it’s never fully untangled, and when other dogs drop in on our game of fetch and it turns into a puppy play session, that damn lead gets wrapped around more furry appendages than you can shake a stick at.

Anyway, lead issues aside, Ella has grown to love these brief play sessions. In particular, she can’t get enough of her frisbee. She’s got really amazing leaping ability. In fact, when she gets excited, she’s been known to hurdle other dogs. I just felt I couldn’t let that kind of talent go to waste. So far, the frisbee training is going well, but like a typical puppy, once she starts to get a little tired, her behavior starts to, ahem, deteriorate a little…

Here she is, starting off with an amazing flying leap - somehow her ears don’t interfere with her ups

Ok so maybe she didn’t catch that one, but what effort!!

And here, the fatigue starts to set in…but we’re still in the cute zone…

But now we start heading downhill…Too tired for frisbee, but never too tired for tug-of-war

Thank goodness this frisbee is Kong tough.