Uh oh...Chuck Fell In!!

As you may recall from previous posts, our deaf boy Trail is very attached to his orange chuck-it ball, a.k.a "Chuck".  He takes the ball with him wherever he can - upstairs, downstairs, on the couch and to bed.  When he can't find Chuck or Chuck has been put somewhere (by Trail), he will indicate that he needs help by staring, then to the spot and sometimes a little whining.  If I look at Trail and hold my hands out, palms up, he will go and get Chuck or take me to the spot where it is.

Trail and his orange Chuck

Well, the other day, while playing chase with Chuck, there was an incident. Chuck fell in!

"Chuck. Chuck...you in there?"

The heating vent became dislodged when Trail was chasing and all I heard was a slight thunk and then a few fainter ones.  Chuck was gone!

"Chuck, come back!"

Poor Trail kept coming to me and then running back to the hole in the floor.  

I tried substituting a blue Chuck ball but Trail was not having any of that. What to do? Well, I did consider pulling down the duct work in the basement but reconsidered since I wasn't sure that was such a good idea.

The next day, I went to town and ninety-two dollars later, Trail has a new Chuck.  Okay, the ball really didn't cost that much! Since I was in town I did some grocery shopping and stocked up.  The orange chuck comes in a package that has a blue one and a glow in the dark one. So, we now have three blue and three glow in the dark balls that none of the dogs are interested in. (sigh)

Trail is now happy again and we are very careful about the heat vents in the floor.