by 
A dog was left reeling yesterday after his owner pretended to throw a ball but actually didn’t.
The dog, Barry, ran for a brief period in the direction where he anticipated the ball might land but then stopped, confused, when the ball appeared to have been in the air for longer than might be expected.
Happily Barry the dog saw the funny side.
“Well, he’s done me hasn’t he? Absolutely done me,” chuckled the curiously expressive animal.
“I mean, pretending to throw the ball, and then not throwing the ball? It’s the last thing you expect, isn’t it?
“So, I’m there, all out of breath, looking around to see where the ball had landed, and it’s not anywhere, so naturally, my first thought is – oh my gosh, this man must be some sort of wizard – I mean he’s made the ball disappear, right? He must have some sort of strange power, so I start barking. I mean, you just find out your owner is a wizard, you’re going to back, aren’t you?”
It was at this point that Barry’s owner revealed that the ball was still in his hand and he hadn’t thrown it at all.
“Boy, was my face red,” said Barry.
“Still, no hard feelings. It was a genuinely cracking joke, and I’m happy to have been part of it.”
However much Barry enjoyed the trick, he revealed that his canine sense of humour had its limits.
“Fucker pulls that sort of shit with my dinner, I rip his fucking throat out.”
