Wednesday morning when I came home from work, I went through my usual routine, which includes throwing tennis balls for Gator before I go to sleep.
So we are in the back yard, me throwing tennis balls, Gator catching them, and retrieving them to me for another routine. When he gets hot, he jumps in his pool to cool down. After a sufficent workout, I said to him, "OK, 5 more throws and mama needs to sleep, and you need to go in your kennel 'cuz you're wet".
So I throw the ball, say "one" and he catches it, and brings it back to me. I throw the next, saying "two", and again he brings it to me. I throw a 3rd and 4th time, and the same happens. I throw the next, and say "five", he catches it, but instead of bringing it to me to throw another, with the ball in his mouth, he walks through the open patio door, and goes directly into his kennel, and lays down. I said to my husband, "Do you think he can count?" and relayed what transpired.
So Thursday, to see if it was a just a fluke or not, after working another night shift, I play ball with Gator. This time, at then end of our ball play, I told him, "after 5 catches, you'll have to go in your kennel. He promptly catches 4 fly balls and which he promptly returned to me foranother throw. Then he catches the 5th, and instead of retrieving it to me, he again runs into the house, and lays down in his kennel.
Today, my husband was outside playing ball with Gator, and he said to Gator, "Ok, I can't throw the ball any more, because I'm going in the pool". So, Gator turned away, and came into the house when he said that.
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