Whether it is a goldfish won at the fair or a Siamese fighter fish purchased as a birthday gift, few families escape the childhood years without a pet fish. After the initial thrill of ownership wanes, these marvels of creation are often ignored until they are discovered belly-up. Without a relationship with them, most children find fish as exciting as a potted plant. Now you and your children can develop a lasting, measurable relationship with these long-suffering pets through the use of the R2 Fish School. This complete training system includes everything you need to home school any fish that is at least two inches long; length apparently indicates both maturity and perhaps trainability. While there is no real limit to how big your fish can be, some of the props will be too small for a fish over six inches; however, the techniques remain the same.
Fish are unique, as they are one of the few pets that you cannot physically coerce into obeying. No bit, no collar, no leash, not even your voice will be useful. Instead, with the promise of food as a reward, you can train your fish to fetch, slalom, play basketball, swim through hoops, eat from your hand, play soccer, and much more.
Using basic marine mammal training techniques, a father-son team learned that common goldfish could be trained to perform incredible stunts. What followed were countless hours spent designing an extensive collection of fish training tools, writing a lavishly illustrated booklet on how to use the equipment, and developing a comprehensive instructional DVD which stars "Comet" (a common goldfish that shows off all his advanced fish trick skills), and in which Professor Dean Pomerleau leads you through the process of using the kit and training the behaviors while his son Kyle provides comic relief between segments.
I love this program, not just because I feel sorry for all these hapless pets, but also because it provides children of all ages an opportunity to teach, to see the value of natural consequences, and to understand the reward of perseverance.
With this program, fish are now elevated to near perfect pet status. They are inexpensive to care for, can thrive equally well in a small apartment as in a mansion, and I know of no one who has ever had an allergic reaction to goldfish! If budget allows, Koi are a good choice, as they are marvelously hardy and can live for forty years or more. Imagine your children's grandchildren continuing the training of this family legacy.