We have a dock on a small lake. My toller spends most of her time begging
us to throw her frisbee out into the lake, but we our arms get tired, she
will lie quietly if there is nothing else going on. Unless....

If there are kids swimming at either of our neighbors, about 150' away, she
will sit and stare at them, trembling. She will not let us pet her, and
will sometime even refuse to retrieve the frisbee. Occasionally she will be
unable to contain herself and she leaps into the water to get to them.

What is she thinking?
My theory is that she simply wants to swim with the other kids; but, while
she likes to be out with my son when he plays basketball with friends in the
driveway, she never trembles if we don't let her (but just whines a bit).
This is completely different.

My wife thinks she feels a compelling need to retrieve the children (however
silly that might be); but she never really approaches them, she just kinda
swims around them. (She ignores ducks, but they don't splash the way
children do.)

Obviously there is no verifiable answer to this, but I am curious what
others think.