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Billie, the poodle, loves to play fetch with a ball. He has a ball that is very special to him. Much of the time, even when nobody is around to play ball with him, he will carry it around. Jag, the terrier, does not care about playing ball at all. He is very jealous of the attention Billie gets with his ball playing. When people stop to visit, Billie will run and get his ball and bring it to the visitor. People instinctively know to take the ball and throw it. He happily retrieves it and gets told what a good dog he is when he brings it back. Jag stands back and watches the attention Billie gets while he gets ignored. Jag’s solution is to hide Billie’s ball whenever he has a chance.

   I have never seen Jag pick up a ball, but he is sneaky about it. If Billie forgets to bring his ball back inside with him, it will mysteriously disappear. Jag has unrestricted access to the whole farm. He can hide a ball anywhere. Billie is usually limited to about a fifty-yard radius around the house so he cannot look in all the possible hiding places.

   This annoying game has been going on for several years. Most of the balls hidden by Jag are never seen again. One year while tilling the garden we did find one buried next to the asparagus, but that was an exception.

   Last year for Christmas, Damon bought Billie a new ball, exactly like the one he currently had that he really liked. It was not the same to Billie. He would not retrieve it or even pick it up. His old ball was the only ball. The squeaker in it no longer worked and it was not as round as it used to be, but it was the best ball in the world.

   About a month ago, Billie made the mistake of forgetting to bring his ball back inside when he got done playing. Sure enough, it disappeared. For several days, he moped around, looking everywhere for his lost toy. As a last resort, he got his new ball Damon had gotten him and started playing with it. After a week or two, things seemed to be back to normal. This was a good ball.

   Next to our driveway is a patch of woods that has grown wild and become somewhat unsightly. Over the weekend, we decided to do some clearing and tidying up. Damon got a backhoe to remove some stumps and take out a few thorn trees. He was happily digging at a stump when he stopped and waved me over. There in the freshly turned dirt was one of Billie’s balls. It was one that had disappeared more than a year ago. A few minutes later, another ball turned up. This was the one that had gone missing about a month ago. I decided to take it down to the house to see if Billie would remember it. When I showed him what we had found, the dog came unglued. I could not believe how happy he was to see his old ball. He proudly took it to the house and had to show it to my wife immediately. It was dirty and a little more out of round than it used to be, but he loves it dearly. He has been very careful to bring it back inside when he is done playing ball now.

   The ball Damon got him and the one that spent a year in the timber can both go back in the toy box for emergency use. When it is time to play ball, Billie proudly gets his old faithful, out of round, squeakerless friend.

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