Pool VSA game

1/1/09

It was another hot afternoon at my parent’s house. Everyone got into the pool and Amika was doing her virtual separation anxiety thing again. She went up and down the anxiety scale all the while- which I suppose is good. It means that she is able to calm down temporarily. What she does do that is of concern is get wound up when you come up to the side of the pool where she can reach you. You are likely to get mouthed and paw slapped, which isn’t good coming from a hyped dog.

After everyone else got out of the pool and headed in for showers and a change, my partner stayed in. Before I went in I suggested to him that he ask her for a behaviour before going up to where she could touch him. Same deal as with the trees at the park- he is out of reach, asks her to do something incompatible with mugging him, then rewards with his presence.

My guy is clever. He invented a whole new game while I was inside rinsing and changing. He took the kong-on-a-rope that has a float inside it and was playing fetch. The variation was a wimpy throw to the side of the pool. When she got there and couldn’t reach it, he waited for her to look at him, retrieved the kong, and let her have it.

This worked up into being able to do several “bad throws”, swiming over to the kong each time for another try. While this happened, Amika was calm and focussed on the side of the pool. she had control: she had asked her human to get the kong, and she was waiting for him to do so. At least, that’s my understanding of the game. Will have to get mr. clever to teach me how to play next time we go over there.