Mud Puddle Physics: Newton's Laws Revisited

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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**I. Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. **

Zap, my 14 month old Australian Shepherd, loves to run. She is light on her feet, very speedy and incredibly agile. She comes from a long line of working Aussies and she is particularly bright.

We were out playing Frisbee yesterday, in our favourite dog park. It’s my favourite because (a) it’s right by the river, and in the summer the dogs can swim and; (b) it is made up of one big steep hill. I stand at the top of the hill and throw the frisbee downhill for the puppy to run after and catch. Good exercise. We all know that an exhausted Australian Shepherd is a good Australian Shepherd.

My older dog, Valen (of Dogs With Jobs fame), was busy fetching his *Sacred Flashing Red Ball Which No One Else Shall Ever Fetch But The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Named Valen *.

Once Zap gets going with the fetching and frisbeeing, there’s no stopping her.

Enter the “External Force” in the equation: The Puppy Vortex known as “Mud Puddle”.
**II. The relationship between an object’s mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F = ma. Acceleration and force are vectors (as indicated by their symbols being displayed in slant bold font); in this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector. **

Zap saw the mud puddle. It was full of leaves and twigs, about two feet deep. Its gravitational pull affected her immediately. Though she tried her BEST to run back up the hill to me with her frisbee, she deviated off course and started getting pulled in by the Puppy Vortex’s great power. No amount of shouting (“Nooooo! Out! Gaaaaaah!”) from me was affecting this great power.

The force of the Vortex not only drew the puppy in its direction, but it also caused an incredible amount of * acceleration* in the puppy.

Zap, at 38 pounds of pure chaos, briefly came to a halt by the puddle… but the force of the vortex was too much for her to handle.

She promptly stuck her head into the puddle, all the way up to her neck, and returned, triumphant, with a stick.

Meanwhile, her brother, busy chewing on the *Sacred Flashing Red Ball Which No One Else Shall Ever Fetch But The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Named Valen * didn’t seem to see her. I said a quick prayer that he wouldn’t. I know that the Puppy Vortex also seems to have an effect on 5 year old dogs.
**III. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. **

Feeling pillaged and violated, the Puppy Vortex retaliated (opposite reaction). It started exerting an even greater force on Zap who, almost immediately, jumped into the puddle and started rolling around. My beautiful red merle Aussie (see pictures of her in her natural state, linked above) became a spike-haired solid-brown dog with no tail. Folks who were nearby with their dogs were laughing hysterically at me. I gave them the evil eye.

Newton’s Third Law had, indeed, acted upon Zap…

… in more ways than one. While she was happy as a puppy in mud (action), I was unhappy (opposite reaction). I knew, however, that the situation would be quickly reversed (the happiness factor, that is) by a process called “The Bath”.

In true proof that our obedience training is paying off, a quick recall produced, in front of me, a muddy puppy who still had a stick between her teeth (along with her frisbee). She sat at my feet, perfectly square, in a wonderfully beautiful obedience-trial-perfect-score sit. I clipped her leash back on, called the older dog who had just returned from throwing the *Sacred Flashing Red Ball Which No One Else Shall Ever Fetch But The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever Named Valen * for himself (yes, he makes himself fetch by throwing the ball down the hill and then chasing it), and we walked home.

People enjoying the beautiful day by taking a walk by the river were quite impressed by my spiky-haired dog. A few laughed. Some pointed. I glared. Zap pranced in her “Victory Dance” sort of way.

I knew my revenge was right around the corner.

I’m so glad I never dropped out of physics as a young student.

So, children, if your kids come home and ask you WHY it is so important to know these basic physics rules by heart and how they apply to real life, send them to me. I will explain it all.

Elly and the Dogs
Valen, relieved the bath wasn’t for him
Zap, insulted. Badly. Probably plotting her revenge.
fixed botched italic tag - ub

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You forget to include in your calculations the effect of the “Awwww Cute Puppy” force, which when acted upon say, a person like me, it draws them inexplicabably toward the incredibly cute puppy!

Awwww!

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What’s “duck tolling”?

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There must be something wrong with my Jackie then, because not only is she not attracted to mud puddles, but she gives me dirty looks when she has to go outside to do her business when it is muddy.

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Tolling is the fine art of luring ducks.

Tollers have tails that kinda flick around like a cat’s tail, when they’re playing. What hunters do is throw sticks by the shore, and the dogs prance n’ dance along, fetching the sticks. The movement of their tails draws the ducks closer. pow, dead duck. The dogs then go off to retrieve the fallen birds.

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers are one of the only dogs specifically bred for this characteristic. It makes them awesome little hunting dogs. Though smaller than other retrievers, Tollers (as they are called to keep things simple!) can carry birds as big as Canada geese. Valen particularly loves hunting n’ retrieving birds! :slight_smile:

Tolling, unlike retrieving, cannot be taught.

It’s not uncommon for us Toller owners to end up with ducks landing nearby when we’re out playing fetch or frisbee with our dogs, either in fields or by the water.