Grill, Interrupted

Further Reflections on the Merciless Tormenting of our Human Friends



Hello, Sports Fans!

Your host, Buster the Wonder Dog here, reporting on the latest new sport in our back yard. Any dog can play, but I have to admit that, temperamentally, terriers have an edge here!

As you can imagine, the most important characteristic of a good back-yard game is that it must result in frustration or humiliation for the two-legged members of our family. If it provides an opportunity for nerve-rattling barking fit to wake the dead, so much the better!

It is well-known that ALL such sports are, in fact, variations of "BusterBall." This one, which I invented last summer, begins with the Grill. Specifically, the game begins at the very moment when Dad attempts to roast hamburgers for dinner.

Step One: Transport one of the zillions of tennis balls laying about the back yard to the foot of the grill and drop it at Dad's feet.

Step Two: Look up, imploringly, at the wretched human.

Step Three: Bark repeatedly until he tosses the ball over the 18-foot-high forest of bamboo.

Step Four: Retrieve the ball promptly and repeat an infinite number of times, until Dad requires a beer and blood pressure medication.

Visual Demonstration:



Note the subtle timing of the barks, and the especially insistent demeanor of the canine athlete!

The objective is to separate Dad from his appointed task of cooking dinner and lure him into endless repetitions of BusterBall:



That's a demonstration of Step Four (above)!

If dinner has been delayed, and the burgers burnt, the Kerry Blues have won the game! And they always do.



This is Buster, your host, signing off for now!