A dog owner has shared hilarious footage of her Pointer trying her hardest to instigate a game of fetch despite being heavily sedated after a trip to the vets.
Eva the dog was filmed by her owner Lara staggering from side to side while attempting to get her to throw the ball for her. At one point she almost topples over entirely before eventually regaining her composure.
"You were just sedated at the emergency vets yet are convinced it's time to play fetch," the onscreen caption reads. To say Eva loves playing fetch would be something of an understatement.
"She is obsessed with tennis balls and usually sleeps with one too so she can get right back to fetching when she wakes up," Lara, who lives with Eva in Western Australia, told Newsweek.
There's no clear consensus on what it is that makes fetch such an appealing pastime to our dog friends. Debbie Jacobs, a certified dog trainer and the author of A Guide To Living With & Training A Fearful Dog, believes it may be simply that it makes them feel good.
"They don't need to be rewarded for the behavior," she told the Huffington Post. "If you like playing football, you play football even if you don't get paid to do it. It just feels good to do it."
Jacobs believes the same rings true with dogs. "If you have a dog who in their genetic mix happens to be strongly predisposed to chasing and grabbing something, and at some point introduce them to the game of fetch, you can end up with a dog who wants to do it a lot," she said.
Lara adopted Eva as a puppy and they have been inseparable ever since. "She is my absolute best friend but she is super cheeky and very high energy," Lara said. "We are so lucky to be able to explore and hike in local bushland. She loves sniffing to kangaroos, hanging out with her feline brothers and most of all playing fetch."
Dogs will often go to extreme lengths to play fetch. Eva's love of fetch proved so strong, she was even able to defy medical science in order to play or at least try to play her favorite game.
"Eva had been to the vet that morning which she hates so they needed to sedate her to treat her eyes," Lara said. "They said she would come home and sleep all day but she was so desperate to play fetch so that is her resisting the sedatives."
She may not have been successful in her attempt, but Eva's efforts did manage to raise a smile or two after Lara posted the clip of her swaying around to social media. She's not the first dog to try and force a game of fetch either.
"She's such a character so I love sharing her silliness and adventures online," she said. "I think a lot of people with high energy dogs can relate to what it's like when their dog just won't rest even when they should."
Do you have funny and adorable videos or pictures of your pet you want to share? Send them to life@newsweek.com with some details about your best friend and they could appear in our Pet of the Week lineup.
