“I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
While strolling near her home in Łódź, Poland, Nika Ovsyannikova was suddenly interrupted by an unusual sound. Her curiosity was piqued, and she sought out the origin of the noise.
“I heard the distinctive thud of a ball dropping,” Nika recounted. “Its bright color caught my eye immediately.”
She wasn’t alone in her attention. Passersby on the sidewalk where the ball had fallen also noticed it, looking visibly intrigued. As Nika observed the scene, one of the onlookers picked up the ball, glanced up, and then tossed it back towards a second-story balcony where a black puppy was eagerly waiting.
“At first, I thought the dog might have dropped the ball by accident while playing,” Nika said. “But then I saw him deliberately dropping it and making someone throw it back. That’s when I realized he was orchestrating a game.”
Time and again, the playful pup enlisted various strangers to join his game, tossing the ball back and forth with an infectious enthusiasm.
“It was incredibly charming,” Nika said. “People stopped to watch, and those who threw the ball back were always careful not to damage the window behind him. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Though Nika would have loved to watch the pup’s game for longer, he eventually retreated inside, seemingly content with the day’s entertainment.
“He went inside and didn’t come out again,” Nika said. “But the next day, friends told me he was at it again. It seems he enjoys this game regularly.”
Deeply inspired by the pup’s playful spirit, Nika—an artist who creates custom animal-themed clay jewelry for her Etsy shop—decided to craft a pendant in the dog’s likeness.
“This dog touched me profoundly,” she said. Nika hopes to present the pendant to the dog’s owner as a token of appreciation for the joy the pup brought into her day.
“I never imagined I’d witness something so delightful,” she reflected. “It’s these little moments of cuteness that make life special.”