Kota's terrified of the bath. He always has been. With the help of lots of treats and praise I got him happily coming up to the bath and happily standing in the bath to be washed but he couldn't/wouldn't jump into the bath himself. He had to be lifted up and put in. It's not that he couldn't scale the height, he can, he just seemed to have a mental block about jumping into the bath. He'd put his front paws on it and peer over the edge and then jump back off again.
And then, a few days ago, we were playing Indoor Fetch and the ball bounced off the toilet and into the bath.
Kota put his paws on the side of the bath, peered over and jumped down. He ran to me, he ran back to the bath, he peered over the side, he tried to grab his ball without getting in, he ran back to me again.
After 5 minutes of me helpfully laughing hysterically Kota took the plunge. He scrambled over the edge of the bath, grabbed his ball and jumped back out again. When the ball went back in the bath 10 minutes later (Moi? Do it on purpose?) it took him 2 tries to get in and out again. The third time he jumped straight over.
Today after our first walk the dogs both came home chest-deep in mud (snow, all is forgiven! Come back!). I shut them in the bathroom whilst I removed my jacket. When I went in I took hold of Kota's leash, led him to the bath and said "Hup!". After one false start he jumped in to a TON of praise, lovings and treats.
After our second walk the dogs came home even muddier than they were this morning. I, again, shut them in the bathroom whilst I took my jacket off.
I went back in to find Kota already standing in the bath.
I don't think he's ever gotten a bigger jackpot.
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