No rottweilers were harmed in the writing of this article

Brad's busy "gearing" up for the annual Mosiman fishing trip to Black Lake.  He thoughtfully asked if I would like to accompany him to the garage and watch him organize his tackle box, the romantic devil.  As exciting as that activity was, I eventually drifted off in search of something slightly more stimulating to do.  I was in the middle of counting fallen pine cones when, like Madame Curie, I stumbled upon an important advancement in the often-neglected "field" of doggie entertainment.  I would pick up a pine cone...ff-whoop...and then toss it in the pasture...ping! ff-whoop...ff-whoop...ff-whoop...ping...ping...ping.  Delightful.  Juno, also known as "The other dog," came bounding over to investigate.  ff-whoop...ff-whoop...ping...ping...boing!  The rottweiler suddenly transformed into a rabbit.  Boing!  Boing...boing!

As Juno frolicked in the field, I continued clearing my lawn of wayward pine cones.  ff-whoop...ff-whoop...ping...ping...boing...boing!  Lost in the tall grass, the dog would magically appear like a leaping gazelle before diving front paws first and nub up toward the next target.  Target...hmmm.  I squinted, wound up and released the pitch.  ff-whoop...ff-whoop...ping...ping...boing...boing...thunk!  Who needs to hit the broad side of a barn when you can hit the broad side of a rottweiler?  Having methodically re-organized his tackle box, Brad wandered down to join in the fun.  Additional points were assigned with the almost-impossible-to-make head shot which made an unduplicatable echoing sound.  Juno added her own component to the game by charging the field, pine cone clasped firmly in her mouth, to re-enter the lawn.  She succeeded twice but her distractability was her downfall as pine cones rained down around her...ping...ping...ping...and she leaped ineffectually about like a cat following a flash light beam...boing...boing...boing! Ten minutes later, my lawn was finally free of pine cones and my dog was happily exhausted.  I'm glad I made the discovery of "Puppy Pine Cone" after we'd cleared the lawn of gravel.