New Uses for a Tug Toy

For those of you who don't already know, Jake loves tug. Any toy he owns, any stick, any sock, and anything else he can get in his mouth becomes a tug toy sooner or later. Many of these items we discourage. Many of Jake's toys were either purchased or made by me just for tugging. Now that the stage has been set...

Approximately ten years ago, I dislocated my right shoulder. My chiropractor has always put it back in place when need be. My chiropractor moved to Oklahoma a few years back but the shoulder hasn't been a problem. Yesterday myhusband and I were working our tails off wiring our accountant's new house for home audio and video needs (you have to take care of your accountant!). Since we were in a hurry I was lifting more than I normally do to make less trips. So today I'm at home putting up dishes. With an armful of dinner plates I feel my shoulder slip out and start really hurting. After struggling through folding a pile of laundry, I was trying to figure out what to do to ease my pain. My husband is working a good half hour away installing a central vac system. Hmm, I look at my sleeping pooch and think, "Jake could tug my arm back in place." I wake him up, give him a good brushing with the Furminator (brushing always gets him riled up), and then hand him his Holee Roller. Jake latched those crocodile jaws on his ball and immediately fell into Tug Mode. I switched the ball to my right hand, lined my arm up for the way I wanted it to be pulled, and used our normal let-the-games-commence command, "Jake, PULL, PULL!" Jake lunged straight back on those powerful little legs of his and I felt my shoulder snap back into place. Ahh, relief! I'm sure both my family doctor and chiropractor would be horrified to hear this story but Jake got a huge pile of doggy treats for his efforts.