Scrapbook - Fetch

For as much as Beau has Obsessive Compulsive Friendliness Disorder (OCFD) Zachary is afflicted with Obsessive Compulsive Ball-Retrieval Disorder (OCBRD). He would follow me to the ends of the earth so long as I had a tennis ball in my hand, and he would climb any mountain or swim any sea where I might throw it.

I honestly do not understand why he enjoys it so much.

If I just give him the ball he drops it at my feet. If I throw it and Beau gets it, Zachary will wait more or less patiently until Beau drops it (Beau doesn't do retrieval now that Zachary is around.) I therefore presume that possession isn't the point of the game.

Should I throw it into the bushes and he can't find it, his world comes crashing down around him. He's frantic, totally frantic, as he scours the yard trying locate the precious ball. Another ball just won't do. It has to be that ball - even though the other ball might have been the object of desire just the day before.

Beau joins in the hunt when the ball gets lost, but his searching is  one of friendly competition, "Can I find it first?"

With Zachary it is an act of desperation.

The ball must be found.

(Click to see a larger version)