Problem Solving

I love watching Isaac figure things out.  Sometimes he is so smart.  Other times, not so much.

He has this toy that is shaped like a twig.  It's about as big around as the cardboard tube in a roll of toilet paper.  It's hollow in the middle.  However, he's gnawed one end of it so much that that end is pretty much closed.

He hadn't played with this toy for a long time but recently pulled it out of his toy basket.  So I stuck a treat in it for him.  The treat was in there pretty loosely.  All he would need to do to get it to fall out is turn the toy so that the opening pointed down. 

Well, since he knew the treat was in the opening, he held the twig between his paws with the opening pointed up.  He then chewed enthusiastically, hoping to chew through the toy to get to the treat. 

That did not work.  Eventually, he picked up the toy and threw it.  He does that with many of his toys if there are treats in them, hoping the treats will fall out.  Sometimes they do.  He also tries that with toys that have sticky stuff like peanut butter in them, but of course, peanut butter does not fall out. 

If throwing it himself doesn't work, he eventually brings the toy to me.  I can throw it harder than he can, so the treats are more likely to fall out when I throw it.  Or if they are really stuck in there good, I can get them out.  He likes getting them out himself, but he's willing to ask for my help when he needs to.

It's just really interesting to see him figure things out.