You know the cat toys that have a ball inside of a ring? Well we have a large one that is open on the top side so the ball actually runs around this ring in a track. Kimi has discovered the joys of chasing this thing around and around. As it too is a ball, I have a feeling she either suspects that this one is "demon" possessed as well, or she is just using it for practice for the 'real McCoys" in our yard.

She has figured out how to 'push' it forward with her nose to get the game started. No assembly required here! She simply puts her little nose into the track behind the ball and gives it an uplifting shove forward. The ball co- operates by rolling around this track and the game has commenced! Kimi runs around the outside of this track.....'round and 'round she goes..when she stops....well...you know how that ends. There are times when she goes round and round yipping at every 'corner'. How she knows where the corners are on this thing I have no idea as it is a circular shape, but she has strategically located certain places to "YIP" at...and each time it is in the same place. Kimi has also figured out that when the ball goes faster than she can run she can catch up to it by cutting thru the middle. It didn't take Einstein to tell her that the shortest route between two points is a straight line either! But in her typical puppy-like hurry to get to the other side she forgets one insurmountable object in her way. The tracks she has to cross also have 'ditches'' in them! (where ever the "puppy angels" are out there...could you please tell Kimi these are the places YOU usually fear to tread without making her feel like a fool?) Each and every time she rushes in across the 'ditches' she trips....she falls...she flips....she sommersaults to the other side. Now I could be sweet here and just say she is practicing her gymnastics, but even I would be stretching things a bit. She is just plain clumsy!

How can I be sure? Well....how many gymnasts have you seen tripping over their own noses while running to the other side?? Kimi does this too. She will put her little nose close to the floor while running around this circle, trying to grab the ball with her teeth. Problem is she forgets the length of her nose and suddenly WHOMP! over she goes! Tail over tea-kettle every time!! The lack of grace does not slow her down, and embarassment knows no home in her sweet mind. She will roll to her feet, leap up and keep on going. Her ancestoral shephards would be proud of her determination to 'herd' this ball home!!

What is really too cute though is when she chases this thing the same direction she will occasionally stop to wait for the ball to come to her so she can "catch" it. If she is running the opposite direction she becomes totally confused and just keeps running in circles 'round and 'round 'yipping' at the ball. Or could it be that she is 'yipping' for help...wanting someone to stop her forward motion? Whatever the reason..when she gets going in this direction she does not stop until she becomes dizzy. Then she will suddenly come to a stop and fall over. BAM! right on to her side! There is no staggering......the stumbling....no anything. Kimi just falls straight over on to her side! I think my girl is hooked on the feeling though because as soon as she can right herself she starts the game all over.

There is one slight personality quirk happening here though. With this game of hers anyone watching can't help but laugh at her antics. Kimi however hates to be laughed at! It aggrivates her....frustrates her....or maybe it just tickles her and she is trying to join in? Nnnaaa....I think she is trying to get you to stop laughing at her! To the one who laughs loudest, Kimi will run over to that person and start hopping up and down madly right in front of them. She is "yipping" and "yapping" with each leap upward...right into their faces. There is no biting of course (Kimi would never do that), but one can't help but laugh even louder at her when she does this. Her little glued down ears are flopping as much as they can, her tail is wagging furiously, and her "YIPs" and "YAPs" become louder and louder. Finally she get so excited by it she starts in on that mad 'puppy run' they do. You all know the one I mean...where they tuck in the tails, get that dopey look of concentration on their faces, and they run everywhere, making sharp 180 degree turns and full 'burn-outs' on the carpeting. All I know is if she is doing it to distract our attention from her ball chasing antics...or to get us to stop laughing at her, it isn't working. We all just laugh louder, harder and longer. But how can we help it when she is just so darn cute?

Between the circle game, the ball chasing, and the hopping up and down and 'mad puppy ' runs she makes, she is soon quite exhausted and as suddenly as the game began, it is over. Kimi never does anything by halves. She wakes up suddenly....bright eyed and bushy tailed...(well ok...her tail isn't bushy yet, but she is working on it). And just as suddenly as she can wake up, she can fall asleep. Many a time I have envied her this! Without all the time consuming, energy sapping, turning and scratching and bunching of the bedding some puppies have to do, Kimi just flops down, closes her eyes and falls soundly alseep. And we all breath a couple of deep sighs. One for relief....we now have an hour or so of peace before *Kimi-land* is open again. And the other is because we also know we have to wait patiently for our star attraction to rest before she is up to entertain us all over again!

Until next time walk in beauty Kristi (is it her nap time yet?)
Kimi...(nope..it is just plain bed time mommy...good night everyone!)