A fluffy 7-week-old Golden Retriever puppy plays with a ball for the first time, and watching the wonderment in his eyes is too precious.
On September 9, 2024, TikTok user ifyoudono (@ifyoudono) shared a video of their young puppy's first time playing with a tennis ball, and it's the cutest. Take a look!
In the clip, we meet 7-week-old Kai who is checking out his very first ball while lying on the floor.
Related: Dachshund Mom Caring for New Puppies Is a Moment of Pure Sweetness
At first, Kai doesn't seem too interested in the ball. While he's lying on the floor, a bright green tennis ball is in front of him. He's watching it but doesn't seem too interested in it.
Still, Kai tried to bite the ball, which didn't work, but he noted the ball's movement.
The ball rolled slightly and stopped, and the puppy did that cute thing they do with their heads when they're excited—that slight swish to the side. His head lifted, his tail raised and wagged, and he finally saw that this ball might actually be something fun.
Kai scoots closer to the ball, hits it a little harder with his paw, and follows closely behind.
The ball goes off-screen, but the parent behind the camera bops it back to him slowly, and it stops.
The Golden Retriever puppy puts his head back down on the floor, and it might be the cutest video ever.
"Kai's first ball," the caption of the video reads. And in the comment section, people swooned and swooned over the sweet pup.
One wrote, "This is one of the most adorable things that has ever happened."
Another shared, "I have the biggest smile on my face [right now]."
Someone else added, "I need a puppy."
One shared, "So cute but he's saving mode wait for the six months age."
Someone wrote, "My heart literally can't take it."
When Can a Puppy Start Playing With a Ball?
Watching puppies grow is an incredible experience because it seems impossible when they're born that one day they'll be big, strong, and playful dogs. But when they do get there, you wonder where all the time went along the way.
There are so many fun milestones to watch for. Around five to seven weeks, puppies start to really play, like Kai exploring with his tennis ball. However, according to Wag , he's probably still too young to play fetch.
"Puppies as young as 2-3 months are ready for their first fetch training. If you start this early – expect to have a ball-obsessed dog later in life," the experts share. "Luckily, dogs that are enthusiastic about fetch can actually be trained using fetch as a motivator!"
Realistically your puppy can start playing with a ball as young as they're nterested doing so. But if you're hoping to play a game (or 100) of fetch, you'll have to wait until they're around 12 weeks old. And even then it will be slow.
"At around 12 weeks, your puppy is likely to be able to focus on training for no more than 5-10 minutes before getting distracted by something else in this big and exciting world," Wag writes.
The suggest you "keep sessions short, and plan on doing several training sessions throughout the day," if you want to keep some of their attention. Which will get longer and become easier the more you practice together.
Local News
