To help or not to help

The dog is trying to get his ball.

It’s stuck under the lazy boy, halfway between the front and the back.

First he tries to reach it from the front, then he tries to reach it from the back.

All the while racing between the two and getting more and more animated.

Watching this frantic problem solving it occurs to me that I could help the dog.

I could easily push the lazy boy a sufficient distance for the ball to be uncovered.

But then would I be taking all the fun out of it?

The dog seems fully absorbed in the challenge.

Would attaining the ball be less rewarding if I intervened?

Since then the dog continues to get the ball and lose the ball under the chair again and again.

At one point he came over and whined at me enough that it provoked me to help.

I did. Establishing that I could be a useful resource for getting the ball again in the future but he hasn’t used me since.

It seems the challenge is all the fun, not the attaining.