Talitha games

Our house was a ranch style layout. I think we actually had shag carpet in the living room. On the other side of the wall was the family room, and these two rooms constituted the straightaways for Talitha's race track. The south turn was the entryway, and the north turn was through the kitchen. So a complete oval included all these rooms and their various flooring. There was a throw rug in the entry, a carpet in the family room and linoleum tile in the kitchen.

Talitha was always up for a time to play with her family. If one of us would get down on the floor and feign a bark and attack on her, she would turn and retreat a few steps, only to turn back and be on the attack. When she did this we would be prepared to get up and run away from her. She loved to chase. We would run the oval race track as quickly as possible, and Talitha would follow in hot pursuit.

Now the desired goal was to get her to race through the north turn in the kitchen. When in full chase, Talitha's claws gripped the shag carpet and even did quite well on the other carpet. But when she arrived at the north turn, we invariably heard her claws scratching through the loss of traction, and like a racing machine at full throttle slides through the turn, she would skid across the kitchen floor only to bang against the cabinets.

A race driver may be injured or his car may be immobilized, but a dog is not so vulnerable. Talitha was somewhat slowed in her pursuit, but she soon gained the traction of the shag and off she went again. This was a great source of family entertainment, and I think Talitha enjoyed providing that entertainment as well.