A Wolf's Pack

Play?

The meat morning, Chase burst out of the dog door and leapt across the porch. His beautiful fur glistened brown/orange in the new light of the dawn. I acknowledged his presence, "Hey Chase!" And Chase said, "Heyah Avalanche! Wanna play?" The retired police dog I had seen in him yesterday had all but vanished. Now, he was a playful dog who wanted to run and romp with me. I got relatively confused when he dropped into a play crouch right in front of my feet. He barked, "Come on! Don't you wolves play? Huh, do ya?" I answered, "The omegas and subordinates do, but not alphas like me." He said, "Oh, well, do you wanna try it? It's fun. Here, let me go get my ball!" Before I could say another word, he sprinted off into the house. As I waited for him to return, I walked as far to the house as the rope would allow. I backed up when Chase came out, tail wagging, teeth enclosed around a Wilson tennis ball. I sat down and scratched my ear frantically with my hind leg. Chase dropped the ball at my feet. I looked at him like he was stupid and asked, "What the hell are you doing?" He answered, "Play, ball! Ya take yer paw and roll the ball towards me, fetch. Don't you wolves know how to play?" I tried to explain wolves don't play fetch. Then, he convinced me to try it. I took my paw and flung the ball across the yard. As soon as I did this, he gave chase and barreled after it. This looked fun and I told him next turn, he'd have to roll it and I'd go catch it and he agreed. My turn came and Chase prepared to fling the ball. When he did, it went very far and I ran after it, barking happily. I caught it on a rock within my reach. Chase and I played for 2 hours, then we were both tired. I ran over to my water bowl and began drinking the cool, refreshing water.