At this point in the pup’s training, it becomes more and more challenging to come up with things that they will experience as novel because we have done such a thorough job of convincing them that Martians could fall from the sky and they’d be just fine!
This novel stimulus toy is one that I save to near the end of my puppy training window of time because it has the potential of really frightening the pups, and that is NEVER my goal. Rather, I strive to challenge them just a little and pay big when they are willing to play these games with me.
We choreographed this pool party down to the last detail! All of us knew our jobs and were ready when my assistant flew the pool into the puppy field – it took these brave babies 44 seconds to all pile into the pool, with their tails wagging so hard that their bodies wagged side to side as well.
When the pups lost interest in the pool, we went on to our Big Field transition. Much later, when I returned the tired pups to their familiar pasture, I filled the pool with water, and the games began anew! The pups have never seen anything float. It was lots of fun to watch them “bob for tennis balls.”
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