Since the weather was just amazing with clear sky, lots of sun and good temperature, I took Sparky to his favorite meadow for his favorite thing to do: playing with the ball.
We got there in about 15 mins since it is at a decent distance from the apartment. As soon as we got there, I let him off-leash and he started jumping around out of excitement. I had to calm him down since his level of energy was not what it used to be even if his enthusiasm was the same.
I had him lying down on the grass for about 5 minutes to catch his breath. Sparky did not protest much but his face showed dissapointment. Something like "what are we waiting for? lets go, lets go, lets go".
Then I threw the first ball, not too far but not too close and watched him running after it with a feeling of anxiety. What if he cannot run after it? What if something happens to him because of the running? What if, what if ....
Nothing bad happened. Sparky ran after the ball the same way as when he was healthy and then dropped it to my feet. Not because he was so nice and disciplined, on the contrary. He did it because out of all balls that we play with, I threw the "worst" one first knowing that he will give it back with the expectation that the good balls follow.
Then, I threw it again. And he brought it back one more time. We took a break here so he can catch his breath again and slow down a bit.
And then continued the same play with a few ball throws, then a break, then a few more, then a break. Towards the end of the play, we stopped using the "bad" ball and switched to the good one that he liked to chew so much. At this point, the game changed somewhat since the ball was his and I had to take it away either by tricking him or by pulling it out from his mouth. Good luck with that!
About 40 minutes in total but not too much exercise. Just enough to get his muscles working, his motivation and mood improved and his overall happiness a bit boosted.
His expression was priceless. Go home??? Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? Noooooooooooooo! We stay here, the grass is nice, it is so quiet, we have the balls, birds are singing, what do we need more?
Very dissappointed in me that I like home more than the meadow:
We came back after our play happier than when we left. He was pleased doing his favorite activity and I was pleased for the same reason. The fact that he slept and rested so much inside was somewhat more tolerable if he had great plays outside. For one hour, he was completely normal.
The weird part is that anyone seeing him running after the ball would totally not believe me about the cancer. Because he did not look sick on the meadow, not even a little bit.
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