As you can see, Dash loves to play. Being a herding dog, he also has a near-inexhaustible energy level. He gets at least two walks a day, but that alone won't use up the well he has. 

 He is pretty good about letting me have stretches of hours to work in, but if he's awake, then it's time to play.

My first Aussie, Tristan, taught Dash how to fetch, and with a large backyard, we have plenty of room to run in. The play breaks are perfect to get me up from my desk and moving (that's for another post), but too often I find myself bent over my phone as I wander aimlessly around the yard.

When I do catch myself, I invariably find that Dash has gone off to find a shady corner to wait me out, or he is sitting where he last dropped the ball, waiting for my attention again. Talk about guilt...

But he is exactly right. This is the time I should be playing with him, not paying attention to my phone. Email can wait. Facebook is not as important as Dash is. I need the screen break, from ANY screens, and he needs the opportunity to make me laugh and burn off his energy, upon pain of constant pestering all evening. And if there is one thing a herding dog knows, it's PERSISTENCE.

Put down the phone. Have a little non-screen time each day. And if it's chasing a little red dog around the yard, that makes it all the better.~