Smart dog!

After throwing the ball several times for Dazzle this morning, as usual, he cooled off by jumping in the horse trough "pool" we have for the dogs.  It's about 21" deep and he's 24" at his shoulders.  He likes to chew on the rubber Ultra balls in the water and make them squish and squirt.  Since they all have tiny holes in them, I decided to squeeze the air out of one and let it fill with water so it would sink. 

Seeing the ball on the bottom really confused him! He looked at it for awhile as if thinking "how the heck did that get down there!?"

First he had to figure out how to blow bubbles so he could stick his head under.  But he didn't want to open his eyes.  Since looking through the top of the water distrorts where the ball is actually located, he stuck his head under several times without finding it.  A few times he had his head under for several seconds, moving his nose around trying to come in contact with the ball.  But that wasn't working. 

So, smart boy that he is, he figured out a solution... Find the ball with his foot and hold it under his paw so he knows where to stick his nose to find it!  I think this counts as using tools, doesn't it?  :-) 

I tried to get it on video, but the sloshing of the water made it hard to see what was going on under the water.  Then I think he realized he could open his eyes because he was diving right for it each time without using his foot.  But it was cool to see him problem solve!