This challenge is similar to Matching Two Colors, but now the pads can also turn white. By adding another color, the puzzle gets more complex.
Do you think your pup will continue to favor the same color for a solution? Many dogs switch their strategy on this level. It can get a lot harder! For example, your pup might now have to choose between white and yellow. If she used to “always touch blue”, well, now she'll have to explore new strategies.
Lola the mixed breed seems to have the hang of it already, and solves the puzzle with just a couple presses! She touches the white and blue touchpads in order to make it yellow across the board.
As with Matching Two Colors, there's a warning sound for running out of presses, and your dog will get increasingly fewer presses to get the puzzle as she advances through the challenge. The challenge will also adjust to get easier, with more shots to win, depending on your pup's progress.
Epi the Golden Retriever is still working out the best strategy to use. This challenge is a bit trickier than what he's used to!
Some dogs will spend a long time pressing buttons, and never quite “get” the puzzle. We call these dogs “foragers” because they keep exploring, without fully understanding what the best strategies are. You may consider going back one challenge occasionally, as this will let your pup spend a while matching with only two colors.
Like with all of our challenges, you may notice that no single pattern unlocks the reward. For example, we don’t teach a dog to use the right button over and over, and then the left button over and over — every solution is mixed in with others. Learning a single pattern would be like memorizing where a bone is, and asking the dog to look for it in the same place every time (boring!).