Dog Community

JJ is OBSESSED with soccer...

Posted : 3/4/2007 12:38:12 AM

Some of you might have read a thread I posted a week ago regarding the progress that my two special needs greyhounds are making and that we have FINALLY gotten Prudence to a point where she can enter the dog park without being utterly terrified of all the dogs and strangers she meets. YAY!!!!![sm=dance.gif]

This week we made several visits to the dog park and two nights in a row we were lucky enough to have one of the areas completely to ourselves. This is WONDERFUL because if there are other dogs, we must muzzle Jimmy James (JJ) because his prey drive and competitive nature makes him aggressive with other dogs when multiple dogs are running. He cannot seem to understand that he is no longer racing on a track and doesn#%92t need to be the “winner”.[

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Well both of these nights that we had the place to ourselves he discovered a slightly deflated soccer ball and immediately went nuts over it. His last owner had told me that when they would go walk in the park he always was completely captivated by soccer games and that he would literally lie down and watch a whole game. I don#%92t know what it is with soccer but he adores that damn ball and DH and I have never seen him act the way he has with any other toy or anything. He races after it, retrieves it (which greys NEVER do…) and the brings it back to you to play with and then to kick again and will do this over and over till he can hardly stand up.

SO today we went to the dog park again but there were a ton of dogs so we had to muzzle him. Right away he went after that soccer ball that another dog was playing with and he became completely OBBSESSED with it and down right angry because this time he couldn#%92t bite it and carry it in his mouth since he had a muzzle on. His antics had the attention of all the dog owners at the park because he was being a total obsessed nut.

Here are a few of the shots I got of him in his “obsessed state”

YAY...I GOT TO THE BALL FIRST!

HOW COME I CAN'T PUT IT IN MY MOUTH??

Prudence wonders "What is he doing with that ball?"

MAYBE IF I PUNCH IT WITH MY FOOT I CAN KILL IT?

PRUDENCE SAYS "I AM BORED...CAN WE GO YET??"

AFTER 5 FRUSTRATING MINUTES I AM FINALLY GIVING UP...

GOT ANY WATER MOM?? I SURE AM THIRSTY...

badrap

Posted : 3/4/2007 1:11:18 AM

what a great series of photos!! the captions made me ROFL.

Raja19

Posted : 3/4/2007 5:15:47 AM

aww JJ sure looks like he is having fun! He got lucky no other dog got intrested in the ball..Raja also has a thing for basketballs and soccer balls...good thing she wasn't there JJ would have had a bit of competition[

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claire1011

Posted : 3/4/2007 7:49:10 AM

What a Fine Boy you are JJ,he looks like he's having great fun!!
So glad Prudence is able to join in the fun too now,she looks a Beautiful girl,I love her colouring,Happy Days[

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chewbecca

Posted : 3/4/2007 9:03:09 AM

aw!!!!!!

look at those ears! The "play" position setting for the ears!
He looks like he's having a blast!
He's such a doll!

pofi_pasquale

Posted : 3/4/2007 9:54:47 AM

I so LOVE seeing JJ and Pru enjoying the park! It's SO awesome!

Pofi is a soccer obsessed dog, too. Nothing is better than a Soccer ball as far as he is concerned. During Big Snow II, we went to dog park and brought a bright yellow size 3 soccer ball - inflated enough so he can't puncture inner bladder, but small enough he can fit it in his mouth (though a sizeable pitbull could not, much to his frustration!). Anyway, it was extra fun in the fresh deep snow.

And Pofi admires JJ's form! He says, "Yes, of course, soccer! It's the worlds' sport."

Xerxes

Posted : 3/4/2007 12:07:58 PM

Shelly that is a fantastic set of pics. Congrats to you and DH and of course to Pru and JJ for getting to this point. What a great dog mommy you are!

jjsmom06

Posted : 3/4/2007 12:39:35 PM

JJ and Pru say "thank you everyone"![

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I am so glad to hear that Raja and Pofi are also soccer nuts. I have never seen a dog so crazy over 1 specific type of ball before so I am glad he is not alone.[8D]

Raja- JJ is faster than the other dogs at the park so thus he usually beats them to the ball. They did try and get it from him but he was such a crazy dog that I think he scared them away because they all left and just watched him for awhile wondering what his problem was![

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During Big Snow II, we went to dog park and brought a bright yellow size 3 soccer ball - inflated enough so he can't puncture inner bladder, but small enough he can fit it in his mouth

Lisa- we got a size 3 ball yesterday to take to the park with us when there are no other dogs there and we can keep him unmuzzled. We deflated it a tad but perhaps too much because I think we came dangerously close to having him completly puncture it this morning (there are puncture marks EVERYWHERE after only 1 session). Any tips on how much to deflate it so that the inner bladder doesn't get harmed? [8|] I am worried we will be buying a new ball every week if we aren't careful and I am already having to replace the white ones kept at the dog park that he "killed" this week so that other dogs can play soccer too.[

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pofi_pasquale

Posted : 3/4/2007 12:54:37 PM

It's a balancing act - we keep them just slightly deflated so if we kick it to him and it hits one of them it is not as hard and won't hurt as much. Also allows even Mia to get a bit of a mouth grip on it, but too mushy and they can really bite down and deflate.

Pofi is the second dog we've just sort of taught over time to be a bit softer with the grip. We let him see us inflate them and he knows the impact it has - rolls better, etc. And when he did puncture one, we left it out for him as a reminder how much less fun it is. We cant kick it to him.

He did eventually just kinda "get it". But we did go through a few balls. DH plays, so we already actually had dozens in all sizes. Look for a sale, don't buy the spendy ones and buy a few - keep them MOSTLY inflated!

gradyupmybutt

Posted : 3/4/2007 6:07:35 PM

Go Jimmy James! I love his name, BTW. I just giggle just thinking of how much fun he was having. And Pru, I'm just so proud of her.

Lisa & Shelly, Yard Sale season is coming up. Keep an eye out for soccer balls there. I bought 2 balls last year @ one. I thought Grady would enjoy one, so I got 2. ~L~ DH thought I was silly. Guess who's playing soccer now, hmm?? So for $2 I got some toys that I don't really care if Grady hurts them or not & they seem to be perfectly deflated already.

jjsmom06

Posted : 3/4/2007 7:00:25 PM

It's a balancing act - we keep them just slightly deflated so if we kick it to him and it hits one of them it is not as hard and won't hurt as much. Also allows even Mia to get a bit of a mouth grip on it, but too mushy and they can really bite down and deflate.

thank you so much for this info! Very helpful to know and I actually think ours today was too deflated... we will pump it up a bit before the next trip![

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Lisa & Shelly, Yard Sale season is coming up. Keep an eye out for soccer balls there. I bought 2 balls last year @ one.

[8D]GREAT suggestion Annie! I will keep my eyes open this spring and summer and I am sure I will be able to find some! As far as Jimmy James and his name..it is a stupid damn name but it was his racing name and his previous 3 owners kept it so we decided to as well. We actually NEVER call him JJ but a few people at the rescue did since he was a long timer there so I use it for this board. The funny thing about his name is that DH's name is James (he goes by Jim) but when he was a boy his dad use to call him "Jimmy James"...so maybe we were meant to have this doggie![

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Alright..I have to post a couple more piccies of todays soccer playing sans muzzle![sm=dance.gif] He LOVES when there are no other dogs there so he can carry it around in his mouth.

THIS is how he wants to play soccer![

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And although there is no ball in this one, I have to post it because even though it is blurry... I adore pictures of sighthounds in mid stride![8D]

gradyupmybutt

Posted : 3/4/2007 7:47:16 PM

What funnnnnnnnnnnn!! I love the second shot with Pru zooming up behind JJ. That zoomie face is classic!!!

Scout in Canada

Posted : 3/5/2007 7:30:24 AM

Oh I love the photos!!! We never get enough JJ & Pru pictures. How wonderful that JJ has found his sport of choice!

carolinahoward

Posted : 5/22/2025 1:50:12 PM

It’s so heartwarming to hear how far Prudence has come—what an amazing milestone for both of you! I totally get how important those quiet moments at the park can be, especially with JJ’s strong instincts kicking in when the action starts. Sounds like he's still got that racer’s spirit! If he’s that obsessed with chasing and competition, he might love watching soccer too—endless running and goals to chase. You might enjoy checking out sofascorebet.com/.../zoom for real-time match updates; it’s like JJ’s dream race, but with a ball!