Object Immersion 2: Fielding Groundballs With Pelota

Another day of object immersion, this time with the ball. Still in an effort to teach him the names of these objects and still using Spanish for the cues.

The usual grabbing and giving took place and making getting the object part of his "work day", but the highlight was the outdoor play, since it wasn't as oppressively hot today.

The game was a spin off from retrieving with a little controlled excitement taking place. I made sure to get him wound up and excited about the ball and in general and would "throw" the ball along the ground, making it roll and sometimes bounce and saying "Pelota!" to get him to go after it. I used the object name instead of "go get it" to make it part of the object immersion.

This was a lot of fun for him, and I think he could feel it's been a while since he got to bounce and run like that. As the game went on, he started play growling and getting really intense, especially when I "attacked" him with the ball and pulled on his hair a bit. Each time he came back, he jumped against me, getting pretty high off the ground, and was more than ready for the next throw.

At that point, I had him lie down and wait. I'd then give him another "ground ball" and called out "Pelota!" and he took off after it. Of course, one time, he got distracted and he didn't see where it went. I kept saying "Pelota!" as he looked around for the ball. When he found it, I made a big deal of it and got him charging back to me, and then we'd do it all over again.

Once I saw his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth, I figured it was time to stop as he was getting fatigued and it was still a pretty hot day out. We went back inside, and, once he got back to my room, he immediately went for his water bowl and lied down on his blue carpet. Once he cooled off, he took a bit of a nap before dinner.

A nice rousing day for him, and a chance to burn up some physical energy for once!