We have already seen special animal relationships, however so far not such, where the cat throws the ball to the dog for fetching.

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We can see real harmony – this is how the dog and the cat play together.

How is a dog and a cat able to play together like this?

For the formation of the fantastic harmony there is need as well for one characteristic trait of cats: they love to knock things over. And basically, this is what happens in the above video as well. The rolling, moving tennis ball raises the tabby’s interest and they happily push it into the depths, where it rolls further winding, so that Ruby, the dog, may catch it after the launch.

The cats’ “knocking” nature arises from several factors: on the one hand because of their predatory instincts, they pounce on every moving or unstable thing, on the other hand they also give space to their playfulness with this, since for them such situations provide a joyful playground. But it is not only instinct: curiosity and boredom may also play a role in this activity. If something looks strange, or they are simply just bored, they at once launch into action. And last but not least the territory marking is also not negligible aspect, since with their paw scent glands during the pushing they mark the objects as their own.

The instincts and the playful nature are stimulations for the dogs to chase the balls

Why does the dog like to play with ball? In the footsteps of ancient instincts

It is not by accident that most dogs almost go crazy at the sight of the bouncing ball, since this characteristic of theirs can be traced back to ancient instincts. The flying toy evokes the escaping prey, thus during the ball game the dog actually lives out their hunting instinct in innocent form. Fetching moreover is special joy for them, since with this they complete a task: they successfully bring back what their carer has thrown.

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