Hide 'N' Seek

One of John & Petey's favorite games to play is hide and seek. John is always the hider and Petey is always the seeker. Sometimes they play when John does not realize that they are playing, but most of the time they are both aware of the game.

Petey really does seem to enjoy finding John. Petey has is standard places where he looks for John particularly when John is not aware that he's playing yet. Petey goes to the recliner, the computer chair, the bathroom, John's side of the bed first before he begins the hunt in earnest. When John knows he's playing he is a very good hider. I've watched Petey plenty of times exhaust his little Petey brain of ideas of places to look, so he'll stand in a central location and put his nose up in the air. He has, more than once, found John by sniffing him out, literally!

When Petey finds John he always does his happy dance. He'll prance around and carry on almost as if John has been gone for days on end. John will rough house around with Petey for a couple of minutes and then go find another place to hide. This can sometimes take a while because Petey doesn't always, read 'ever', go to base and count to ten.

Until yesterday, this game has always been played in the house. John decided to kick it up a notch and hide from Petey while they were outside. John was walking back up the driveway from getting the mail and Petey ran ahead of him to get to the backdoor first. Petey is always the line leader in the house. Unfortunately, not everyone follows all the time. John detoured to the front porch.

Our front porch goes all the way across the front of the house and has a brick wall around the edge. It is about 8 steps up from the front yard. We often sit out on the front porch on pretty evenings, so Petey has been up there plenty of times. John went to the edge of the porch closest to the driveway, which is at the opposite end from where we swing/rock in the evenings.

When Petey got to the backdoor and John was no where in sight, the game was on. Petey came trotting back down the driveway and began the hunt. John watched as Petey looked all around the yard and walked up on the porch. Petey looked at the end where we sit, but never turned to see John at all. The wind must have been blowing the wrong way for him not to catch John's scent being that close. Petey went back down the steps and around to the driveway headed to the back door again. He really seemed to understand that they were playing their favorite game as he trotted around looking for John. He was not at all in distress or showing any signs of upset.

John watched Petey walk back & forth on the driveway a couple of times without ever looking up, so he decided to reveal himself by barking at Petey. Just as Petey got right below him on the driveway, which is several feet, he let out a big "WOOF!" Petey jerked his head up to the sound. His expression was one of suprise and joy. He couldn't understand how John had gotten on the porch, but was glad he found him. He immediately began his happy dance. He pranced and ran and the same time up to John on the porch. It was a great game made even better by being outside. This is great weather for playing outdoors too!