She’s developed into a little spitfire, to say the least. Her latest game is called “Slide Into Home.” This invention combines her two favorite past-times: running and belly rubs.
It consists of:
- Grab a squeaky toy.
- Tear around the house at warp speed (while squeaking and growling at said toy).
- Run straight for me (while I'm sitting on the ground).
- Then, at the last possible second, “slide into home.” (i.e. she simultaneously puts on the breaks and dives into belly rub position, into my lap, just before it appears she’s going to run into me at full speed!)
- After a few seconds of belly rubbing, repeat steps 1-4.
She’s also learned to jump up on the patio chairs, but she has to do it carefully because her jumping mechanism is still a little rusty. She learned this in an effort to keep a close eye on the hummingbirds in the backyard. She figured out quickly that chasing and barking at them didn’t work very well, so Ruby devised an alternate strategy: poucing. The hummingbirds zoom along at grass level, from the bush, across the patio, then over the fence at the corner of the house. Ruby’s chair is in the flight path, and she has a good pouncing vantage point when she sits up there. (Don’t worry, her reflexes are pretty bad, the hummingbirds are safe….for now.)