Katie Connor couldn’t believe her eyes when she pulled her sofa aside to hoover and 21 dirty balls rolled out from underneath.
Katie, 34, said her English springer spaniel Griffin went “ballistic” when his hoard was uncovered at their home in Glasgow on Tuesday.
Katie captured an image of one-year-old Griffin looking pleased with himself as he stands guarding his favourite toys, while gnashing on one.
Another photo shows Griffin fast asleep, exhausted after his excitement, yet still with a tennis ball tucked under his jaw.
An image shows an array of used tennis balls, in all shapes and sizes, after being found underneath the couch.
Stay-at-home mum Katie posted the images on Facebook yesterday, writing: “I moved the couch and Griffin thinks Christmas has come early.”
The post has gained hundreds of likes and dozens of comments from members of the group who were amused by the pooch’s antics.
One user said: “That’s hilarious. Typical springer, loves his ball.”
Another dog owner said: “It’s like that under our oven. We notice the toy supply getting low at times so it’s either under the Viking or out in the yard.”
A third member of the group commented: “That’s some stash!”
And another replied: “Look at that wee face!”
Speaking today, Katie said: “I think he must have been building this collection up for a month or two.
“He loves tennis balls to the point of destruction a lot of the time so I thought they were in the bin.
“I usually keep them in my boot and had noticed it was running low.
“It’s a corner sofa that they were hidden under. I usually just vacuum around it and briefly under it but I decided this time to pull it out and give it a proper clean.
“Then when I moved it, they all came rolling out and his eyes just lit up.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes but his face looked as though he was thinking ‘Omg, that’s where I put them!’
“He’s obsessed with tennis balls – they’re his favorite toy by far.”
Katie added: “He usually falls asleep with one, and when he gets fed.
“He takes a ball and puts it in his bowl beside his food before he even thinks about starting to eat.
“We try not to let him have tennis balls in the living room because he’s obsessed and can end up going mental over them.
“He must hide them for later and then totally forget.
“For the most part he’s a very well-behaved dog, but now we’ve found out he apparently just likes to hide his stash of tennis balls in the living room.”
