Adorable Dog Becomes Best Friends with Volleyball, Refuses to Let it Go
When Nicki Park first met Fletcher as a young puppy, there was an instant connection. Even though she originally wanted to adopt a different puppy from the litter, Fletcher quickly won her over with his little cowlick.
Since then he has proved to be an extremely loyal and intuitive dog who loves to play hide and seek, a perfect companion for the singer-songwriter.
On July 4, 2018, Park decided to bring Fletcher to her friend’s Independence Day party. She made sure to pack some of his favorite toys to play with while they were there, but he never played with them.
Soon after arriving at the house, the 6-year-old Labrador found a rogue volleyball and wouldn’t let it go. Park apologized to her friends about the now-ruined ball, but they said that it wasn’t theirs.
“Fletcher had that ball in his mouth the ENTIRE 7 hours we were at the party,” she said. “He chased the other dogs with the ball. He swam with the ball. He rested with the ball.”
The ball, lovingly named “Volley,” ended up coming home with the pair and even found its way into the bed that night.
The next morning Volley rolled into the closet. Without realizing it Park shut the door, separating the two new best friends.
Fletcher immediately panicked.
When she opened the door and watched her dog calm down as soon as he was reunited with Volley, she realized just how much the friendship had progressed.
A week after Volley first came into their lives, following a monsoon, Park decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and go on a hike.
Fletcher was excited to go, but he wanted to bring along his new best friend. Park “put her foot down.”
She said he seemed “concerned” on the drive to the trailhead and eventually forgot about Volley. “But once we got home, it was all about the ball,” she said.
Unlike other ball-obsessed dogs, Fletcher isn’t super interested in playing fetch or chewing on the ball; he just enjoys carrying it around.
Park said Fletcher has fixated on other toys in the past, usually a stuffed bunny or elephant. Those toys provide extra comfort for him so he never tears them up.
“And if another dog tears them up, he brings them to me and drops them at my feet, heartbroken,” she said.
While his stuffed bunny or elephant provide extra security and comfort, they can’t even begin to compare to his beloved ball.
There’s no telling how long this friendship will last, but it seems like Fletcher is following after Tom Hank’s character in “Castaway.”
He has found his Wilson.
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