When Anni Cummings adopted her dog, Mojo, in 2022, she knew right away they were meant for each other. But she also noticed something else — Mojo was nervous around strangers.
Cummings isn’t sure what caused his social anxiety, but she suspects it may trace back to his life before the shelter.
A couple of years later, Cummings and her boyfriend moved into a new home. That’s when Mojo’s fear of strangers became more obvious — he’d bark at anyone walking past their yard. His mom knew it wasn’t aggression. Mojo was just scared.
She wanted to find a way to help him feel less anxious — and then she remembered his greatest love in the world: tennis balls.
When Mojo is playing fetch, all his fear disappears. He becomes joyful, energetic, and eager to connect. So, Cummings decided to use that to her advantage.
She hung a bucket of tennis balls on the fence and attached a note that read:
“I promise I’m not mean. Just throw the tennis ball and we will be friends!”
It didn’t take long for the idea to work. Within 20 minutes, a passerby picked up a ball and played fetch with Mojo for an entire hour.
Now, Mojo is the neighborhood favorite. Kids, dog walkers, postal workers — everyone stops to toss him a ball. And his fame has spread beyond the block. On TikTok, people from all over the world are lining up virtually for their chance to play fetch with him.
“If I passed this on my way to work, I would 100% be late,” one commenter wrote.
“Where do you live? I’m booking my flight,” another said.
Thanks to one bucket of tennis balls, a once-shy pup now spends his days making new friends — one throw at a time.
