Terra, a black shepherd dog was a gift to Anura Jeffrey after Mimi, her beloved 15-year-old Maltese, died a day after Christmas last year.

Although Anura was heartbroken and not looking for a replacement, the furry and scrawny little Terra grew on her, turning out to be more a great buddy than a pet.

As a pup, Terra was obsessed with footballs. However, as she grew bigger, no football could survive her strong jaws and sharp teeth. Today she has to contend with studier but smaller hockey balls instead.

Anura says that although dogs have an in-built disposition to chase after moving objects, pick it up in their mouths and bring it back to their master, Terra is too playful to bother with such rules.

She prefers to run off with her catch, and hide it under her body instead of hand it over. But if you show no interest in retrieving her ball, she teases you by placing it near your feet.

One day, in her bid to get the neighbour’s cat to play ball with her, she tore a hole in the fence and romped in the neighbour’s garden. Needless to say, all hell broke loose with the frantic neighbour calling to get Terra out.

All’s good now as the fence’s been mended, and the neighbour’s cat spared from being an unwitting participant in such a rough sport.

Oh, and having just turned one year old on Oct 10, Terra has since perfected the art of playing fetch. Good on ya, girl!

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.