What fun being able to jump off a boat to fetch a ball! We used to have dog, Gixer, who loved to dive into the water. He learnt to dive when he was a pup and ran along a pontoon watching us on the shore, only to go straight off the end, lol. He was a diving dog ever after. He would have loved to have had a dog boat like Juno... the boat is just for Juno's fetching pleasure, right?
Trying to work out the breed 'cause the coat looks curly, but I don't think Juno is a labradoodle?
Is anyone else wondering at the silence here? Our Queen, who I'm sure is keeping her watchful eye over us, hasn't been on to bask in our raucous applause (and bad puns) at her news. There's just been... crickets.
Oh, tennis balls! If dogs were to gather anthologies of literature, I think it would be to tennis balls. Or the bulk of it might be to tennis balls? Tennis balls and food.
If she's wondering "Really? Again?" It's probably about that camera (phone?)thing we pesky humans insist on waving around. That's a look Elka gives me, if I'm like "ooh, I want to take a picture! Stay still! Wait! Look at me!" (so many blurry Doberman pictures....or of her no longer "smiling" because of the delay)
AJ: I figure our QOTKU will comment (or not) upon her news when she feels like. What we can be sure of is her authors know exactly what's going on and what it means for them, and that's what matters.
Years ago we lived on a lake. Our German Shepherd dog then was Klaus, who was afraid to jump in, even after a STICK (!!). So my husband picked him up and tossed him into the water at the end of the dock. Instinct kicked in, which was a very good thing judging by Klaus' expression. He had a marvelous afternoon jumping into the lake and retrieving the stick so we could throw it back into the water. The only problem we had after that day was making certain we had Klaus on a leash when we opened the door, because otherwise he'd take off for the lake as soon as the door was opened.
As I have indicated in previous comments, I'm not really much of a dog person. Cats are more my kind of pet. So last night, a dog-related question came to mind, and I wondered how I would subvert the comments--I mean, work my question into the topic at hand in order to ask it. But lo! The topic presents itself! Here's my question:
Do dogs actually enjoy swimming? I know that if you throw them in water, they'll swim, and if confronted with a body of water as an obstacle to getting what they want (e.g., a tennis ball), they'll traverse it. But given the choice, would they prefer splashing in the pool over, say, chasing a Frisbee, or something like that?
My curiosity awaits satisfaction, all you dog people! ;)
AJ: Don't be too surprised at Janet's silence here. This is her reading month, after all, so I daresay she's deliberately limiting her online time. These posts were probably all scheduled at the end of last month. As Jennifer said, I'm sure Ms. Shark is dealing with her news in the way she thinks best.
AJ, she looks like a Labradoodle to me, but I certainly could be wrong. Regardless, she must be having lots of fun. Bless her heart. Water and tennis balls, dog heaven.
Colin - like with people, it depends on the dog! I've never had a dog who liked swimming, or even being in the water, but I know plenty who do.
I've never been able to convince my dogs to attempt to play in ocean or river but recently one of them did accidentally try it! We were walking around my uncle's property and she was circling around the edge of the dam as usual. Turned my back and heard a splash - when I looked round she was in the water, looking completely confused - the algae on the dam was so thick and smooth on one half of the water that I think she thought she was dropping onto solid ground! Didn't seem to occur to her to turn around and get out; instead she swam the entire width of the dam, in a straight beeline to me, then got out and shook herself for about 10 solid minutes. So that answered my question about whether she COULD swim if she wanted to...
Colin I think some dogs do love the water. The sporting breeds, for example, who are intended to go in after the water fowl. Tons of different ones, so too many to name here.
And then there are the ones you wouldn't think "should" love it, and yet...THIS HAPPENS
Maybe dogs are a lot like humans (I think so!) in that it just depends on their personality, i.e., some will love it, no matter the breed, some won't.
As to QOTKU, this is her quiet transition/reading/turning a "new leaf" time.
Ha! And while I was busy cutting and pasting my linkies, Sam posted his comment and we think alike about the dogs swimming thing! It just depends on the dog!
The water looks so inviting. Makes me want to dive for tennis balls.
Colin, My parents lived by a fenced in aqueduct running from Lake Houston.Their dogs would find their way under the fence and into the aqueduct. There was a large pond behind my parents house with alligators in it. The dogs did not swim there.
My off topic statement: The Olympics are keeping me from doing much revising. I'm watching over twelve hours a day. Really getting into Volleyball. (Juno gets a score of 8.5 on springboard diving)
Colin my dog is a swimming dog. When we get near water he's in like a shot. At the beach he fishes (running up and down in the shallows and pouncing on the small fish) and when he tires of that he swims out a little ways and then just swims up and down parallel to the beach - and he will do that until well after we've tired of being in the water.
I think he loves to swim more than anything else - even playing fetch.
Like Colin, I'm not really a dog person but I am enjoying these photos. I've always been a little envious of true dog people (like many in my family) and the relationships they have with their dogs.
Kitty: I did read your comment, which only further prompted me to ask whether swimming is something all dogs enjoy, or only some, and then only once they've been tossed in and get to experience what it's like.
Although I grew up with a cat and a dog, I'm primarily a cat person. After all, with a name like Kitty.... When we got married, my husband told me he loved dogs, specifically German Shepherd dogs, that he did not particularly care for cats and we would never have one. Case closed. I just smiled, and as soon as he left for work the next day, I adopted a little black kitten. All she did was climb into his lap and purr, and that was it. We've been a mixed pet household ever since.
Would love to be on that boat with Juno right about now.
You could not keep our golden retriever out of the water. You couldn't make our collie go into it. Our Pomeranian loves to swim (see my blog for pics). The Princess and the chihuahua are beach blanket dogs.
Juno is delightful! I love how she's looking at the picture like "Are you ready? Are you watching? Are you?"
Colin: Growing up I had two golden/lab mixes (Sampson and Hercules) who loved the water. We'd get extra long leashes to take them to the lake, and they'd always jump in the canoe with us. A couple of times, Hercules would lean his paw out the side of the boat and help us paddle.
My two muttfaces now hate the water, but they're hounds (coonhound mix and a beagle/basset mix). I've tried taking Riley to the lake, but he wants nothing to do with it, and every summer, I try setting up a dog pool for them, but they think it's just a big water bowl. I'm pretty sure it depends on the breed and/or the specific dog's temperament. I'd love another water-loving dog--I love the joy when they play!
RE do dogs like swimming. Arya tries her best to avoid water. She has gotten excited chasing ducks and run in, but that is rare. It's odd as she's a lab and they typically love water. Ivy (lab/rotting) won't stay out of it and that includes laying in puddles at the dog park.
Juno looks like a fun dog! When I was young, we had a lab Brandy who loved swimming in our pool too much so my dad had to invert a bench and lay it across the pool steps to limit his access. We would move the bench for an hour or two every day, so he could swim.
LOL Manda. My first line is verbatim to yours! No I have not been taking lessons from a certain Trump......... I think it must be because it's obvious that Juno is a fun dog =)
My late fur-baby, Socks, was a St Bernard/Pit Bull mix. He loved the water, but we didn't have anywhere for him to swim. He spent a lot of summer afternoons lying in the creek across the road. One year we had so much rain the creek overran its banks and flooded. Socks spent the entire day swimming around in circles, smaller and smaller circles as the water receded.
Socks has been gone for 8 years. I still miss him every day.
What a terrific photo! I love Juno's face and her fetching "smile"...
Colin: One of our previous homes had a creek running diagonally through the entire property. We had 12 dogs at the time... a variety of breeds. Some would go bounding toward the creek and launch themselves into the water. Big belly flop! Then romp and play. Some would only wade in to their bellies and simply stand there, lapping water. Others wouldn't even get their toes wet.
Kitty: your cat-husband persuasions remind me of my Mom. Dad didn't have a choice in the matter; Mom had a cat when they met. And anytime the house magically spawned a new cat (strays, fosters, etc) we all pretended Dad didn't notice, including Dad.
Good morning, all! Just coming to consciousness here on the West Coast after staying up too late watching the Olympics.
Juno is our gal, the older of two Australian Labradoodles. We keep her coat super-short because she hates being de-burred and de-twigged, and her non-shedding hair grabs everything. Little "sister" Zuzu is not in the photo because she hates the water. Juno would swim the English Channel to fetch a tennis ball, but otherwise she's not interested.
Zuzu is our resident hunter. She goes crazy when my husband fishes from the dock. Unfortunately she's had some success with hunting, including a rattlesnake. That involved a lengthy stay at the vet's office!
Thank you, dear Reiders, for your very kind comments about Juno. She's a great dog and a natural athlete. We call her our "normal" dog :-)
(and Theresa, I'm still chuckling over "elusive query." Sigh.)
Colin: It depends on the breed. Some, like retrievers - especially labs - you can't keep out of the water. They were bred to be hunting dogs, and water is a part of that. With non-hunting breeds, I think it's hit-or-miss. It depends on the dog.
The only big dog I ever fostered was a lab cross named Bo. I couldn't keep up with him, so I took him to the off-leash dog park which has a creek running through it. He made a bee-line for the creek and had a great time. He made a friend - a Jack Russell terrier - who followed him into and out of the water, just to follow him. They were having a great time, just splashing and swimming.
Barbara: Perhaps it's just as well Shelties don't like going in water. My ex had one, and he gave him a bath. Even though he'd brushed him out beforehand, the poor thing matted completely. We had to get him shaved down.
Colin: I have a German Shepard who LOVES water. When we got her as a puppy, she was skittish and afraid of everything (I mean EVERYTHING). It took a week to get her used to going out into the yard.
After a few weeks, when she was about 7 months, we took her on her first ever not-in-our-yard walk. She had conniptions about everything - scared of other dogs, scared of other people, scared of plants, scared of concrete. But when we passed by the beach, she hopped straight into the water without any prompting from us. We were so relieved she wasn't whining from fear we let her play in the water until she was totally exhausted.
To this day, when she sees water, she jumps in it - stick or no stick! :)
I think she's saying, "I'll fetch it for you once more, but hang onto it this time, okay?"
Colin - At the park near our house, labs and other retrievers can't wait to launch themselves into the water. Our short-haired terrier doesn't like cold, and while she'll splash a bit along the shoreline, she doesn't like to get wet.
I used to have huskies, who acted as though water was acid. They didn't even like crossing bridges. I suppose it's instinctive -- if they fell through the ice and got wet in winter, they'd probably die.
Am I allowed to enter the caption contest for my own photo? Hmmm. Well, in case I am, here's my entry (although I don't pretend to understand my own dog):
"Pathetic. This is no challenge for the Queen of the Fetchers!"
Okay folks - my caption entry gauntlet has been thrown. Or placed gently on the ground. Dive in! I know ya'll can do better than that!!
My father-in-law's dalmatian used to swim alongside us when we went canoeing. You couldn't keep that dog out of the water. When he wasn't swimming (and oh, I have stories) he paddled around in the shallows hunting (catching, eating, throwing up) frogs.
Does she play Frisbee too? I once had a dog named Cisco, whom I met in jail, who would steal other peoples Frisbees. He did it in the hopes of getting someone else to play too.
When my niece was young we had a Cocker who would jump into the pool and tow her around when she was in her little tugboat. Had a retriever who would not be left on the shore. She would swim out to the boat if we went fishing.
The only problem I have had with water dogs is that they hate baths. As soon as you bathe them they find a muddy puddle to roll around in too.
I know switching jobs takes a week or two to accomplish. I figure having a job where networking is tantamount takes even longer. I am getting apprehensive though that My Queen is abandoning us. Not even a note or tweet. FinePrint removed her profile within hours and New Leaf tweeted about how pumped they are. Do we Reiders and denizens of the Reef have to continue to read the omens and portents of this or are we going to get some word soon? Even a smoke signal would be helpful.
Hi Craig - Juno does not play frisbee catch. That would be cool, though. She's not a ball stealer, either, but there are a number of those at my local off-leash area. As you say, it's usually a bid to get other dogs (or people) to play with them, so I don't mind. The more fetchers the merrier, I say!
I can relate to your story about water dogs rolling after baths. Juno loves jumping in the lake to get the ball, but then she'll find a patch of dry grass containing large numbers of nasty burrs and roll like crazy.
Growing up in the middle of the Atlantic, we had this lab, Rudy, who was a seasoned fetcher/swimmer.
When we swam off the wharf she'd always be there. If someone felt the urge for a tow she'd let them hang on to her tail and pull them back ashore.
She was one of those dogs lucky enough to have a long active life. We got her when I was seven and she lived just long enough to meet my daughter (born when I was 22). If I had to pick the best part of my childhood, that swimmer/fetcher dog would be it.
Our Aussies used to like getting wet, but living in West Texas, there wasn't a lot of water around like lakes and such near us. Since Don had spoiled the horses since birth by spraying water on them in the summer to cool them off while he was filling water tanks, they were used to water. When someone put a hose in the tank to fill, one of the mares would pick it up with her mouth and clamp down on the end of the hose enough to cause a spray. Then the other horses would come get under the fountain and cool off. When she was tired, she'd drop it back in the tank and another mare would pick it up until they all had a shower.
Sometimes Skidboot would just bury her head in the stock tank like she was trying to drown herself. You'd see bubbles come up and presently she'd lift her head and do it again. I never was sure if she was depressed or just hot.
Kitty: I love your cat acquisition story vis-a-vis cat intolerant husband. Men are usually helpless in the face of a one pound kitten. Especially one that jumps in his lap and starts purring. Cats are no dummies. Can you tell I am a cat person?
Craig, being of the somewhat paranoid persuasion, I had fears that Janet was trying to get us weeded out through lack of attention. If we were left to our own devices, we would eventually wander off, maybe someone else would adopt us. After all, haven't we already seen that there used to be a whole other group of Reiders?
I'm sure that's not what she had in mind. She is just busy getting herself settled in the best office at New Leaf, checking out the office cat (they must have one, musn't they?) and getting her pens and pencils lined up acording to size and color.
Time to head outside and do a little bludgeoning of nature. Flora, not fauna. A little time with nature should help diffuse the craziness of the current political news.
Great picture, Claire! Your Juno looks very much like a stuffed animal my youngest sister had as a child (except it was an elephant). She loved that thing to death and rubbed off patches of "fur" so parts of it looked like Juno's lower back leg. What an odd thing to remember. I agree, Juno looks like she's thinking: "What? That's all the farther you can throw it?"
A friend of mine had a blind cat who LOVED the water. She would take it to the pool and crouch down so her shoulders were at water level and the cat would rest its head on her shoulder and just float there while she moved around the shallow end. Now that's something I wish I'd gotten a pic of.
Thank you everyone for your comments on dogs and water. You guys are the internet at its best! Such great stories in answer to my little question. Y'all are awesome!! :)
Remember a ways back when Julie Weathers talked about a guy climbing in the window that she had to go pay attention to. (Or some such, my memory is as warped as the mind it's inside.) And then we made her tell the rest of the story, which turned out wonderful.
Well, looks like it's Craig's turn. Pass the microphone for this:
"I once had a dog named Cisco, whom I met in jail."
Yeah, um, Craig ... a little elaboration might be in order here. Way to try and sneak that one in during August figuring nobody'd be paying attention. Here's the mic. I'll take a seat.
Oh, and one more caption as long as I'm here: Voiceover: "Juno will now attempt a one-and-a-half belly flop from the tuck position. Degree of difficulty ... zero."
50 comments:
What fun being able to jump off a boat to fetch a ball! We used to have dog, Gixer, who loved to dive into the water. He learnt to dive when he was a pup and ran along a pontoon watching us on the shore, only to go straight off the end, lol. He was a diving dog ever after. He would have loved to have had a dog boat like Juno... the boat is just for Juno's fetching pleasure, right?
Trying to work out the breed 'cause the coat looks curly, but I don't think Juno is a labradoodle?
Is anyone else wondering at the silence here? Our Queen, who I'm sure is keeping her watchful eye over us, hasn't been on to bask in our raucous applause (and bad puns) at her news. There's just been... crickets.
Hmm? Makes me wonder what she's thinking, like: Really? Again?
Oh, tennis balls! If dogs were to gather anthologies of literature, I think it would be to tennis balls. Or the bulk of it might be to tennis balls? Tennis balls and food.
If she's wondering "Really? Again?" It's probably about that camera (phone?)thing we pesky humans insist on waving around. That's a look Elka gives me, if I'm like "ooh, I want to take a picture! Stay still! Wait! Look at me!" (so many blurry Doberman pictures....or of her no longer "smiling" because of the delay)
AJ: I figure our QOTKU will comment (or not) upon her news when she feels like. What we can be sure of is her authors know exactly what's going on and what it means for them, and that's what matters.
Years ago we lived on a lake. Our German Shepherd dog then was Klaus, who was afraid to jump in, even after a STICK (!!). So my husband picked him up and tossed him into the water at the end of the dock. Instinct kicked in, which was a very good thing judging by Klaus' expression. He had a marvelous afternoon jumping into the lake and retrieving the stick so we could throw it back into the water. The only problem we had after that day was making certain we had Klaus on a leash when we opened the door, because otherwise he'd take off for the lake as soon as the door was opened.
Haha! A great image of what summers and dogs are all about.
AJ: Maybe her coat is extra curly at the moment because it's wet from having already done previous fetches?
As I have indicated in previous comments, I'm not really much of a dog person. Cats are more my kind of pet. So last night, a dog-related question came to mind, and I wondered how I would subvert the comments--I mean, work my question into the topic at hand in order to ask it. But lo! The topic presents itself! Here's my question:
Do dogs actually enjoy swimming? I know that if you throw them in water, they'll swim, and if confronted with a body of water as an obstacle to getting what they want (e.g., a tennis ball), they'll traverse it. But given the choice, would they prefer splashing in the pool over, say, chasing a Frisbee, or something like that?
My curiosity awaits satisfaction, all you dog people! ;)
Since tomorrow is the last dog day for this year, does that mean there's only one more dog left?
Shouldn't that be "elusive query"?
Juno is beautiful. Our golden retriever preferred brief dips in the water and she never thought much of retrieving.
AJ: Don't be too surprised at Janet's silence here. This is her reading month, after all, so I daresay she's deliberately limiting her online time. These posts were probably all scheduled at the end of last month. As Jennifer said, I'm sure Ms. Shark is dealing with her news in the way she thinks best.
AJ, she looks like a Labradoodle to me, but I certainly could be wrong. Regardless, she must be having lots of fun. Bless her heart. Water and tennis balls, dog heaven.
What a cute picture.
Colin - like with people, it depends on the dog! I've never had a dog who liked swimming, or even being in the water, but I know plenty who do.
I've never been able to convince my dogs to attempt to play in ocean or river but recently one of them did accidentally try it! We were walking around my uncle's property and she was circling around the edge of the dam as usual. Turned my back and heard a splash - when I looked round she was in the water, looking completely confused - the algae on the dam was so thick and smooth on one half of the water that I think she thought she was dropping onto solid ground! Didn't seem to occur to her to turn around and get out; instead she swam the entire width of the dam, in a straight beeline to me, then got out and shook herself for about 10 solid minutes. So that answered my question about whether she COULD swim if she wanted to...
Colin I think some dogs do love the water. The sporting breeds, for example, who are intended to go in after the water fowl. Tons of different ones, so too many to name here.
And then there are the ones you wouldn't think "should" love it, and yet...THIS HAPPENS
Maybe dogs are a lot like humans (I think so!) in that it just depends on their personality, i.e., some will love it, no matter the breed, some won't.
As to QOTKU, this is her quiet transition/reading/turning a "new leaf" time.
:)
Ha! And while I was busy cutting and pasting my linkies, Sam posted his comment and we think alike about the dogs swimming thing! It just depends on the dog!
Juno says, "Are you ready with the camera?"
The water looks so inviting. Makes me want to dive for tennis balls.
Colin, My parents lived by a fenced in aqueduct running from Lake Houston.Their dogs would find their way under the fence and into the aqueduct. There was a large pond behind my parents house with alligators in it. The dogs did not swim there.
My off topic statement: The Olympics are keeping me from doing much revising. I'm watching over twelve hours a day. Really getting into Volleyball. (Juno gets a score of 8.5 on springboard diving)
Colin my dog is a swimming dog. When we get near water he's in like a shot. At the beach he fishes (running up and down in the shallows and pouncing on the small fish) and when he tires of that he swims out a little ways and then just swims up and down parallel to the beach - and he will do that until well after we've tired of being in the water.
I think he loves to swim more than anything else - even playing fetch.
Colin, read my comments (4th from the top).
Like Colin, I'm not really a dog person but I am enjoying these photos. I've always been a little envious of true dog people (like many in my family) and the relationships they have with their dogs.
Congratulations to Janet on her new digs!
Thanks for the comments so far!
Kitty: I did read your comment, which only further prompted me to ask whether swimming is something all dogs enjoy, or only some, and then only once they've been tossed in and get to experience what it's like.
Although I grew up with a cat and a dog, I'm primarily a cat person. After all, with a name like Kitty.... When we got married, my husband told me he loved dogs, specifically German Shepherd dogs, that he did not particularly care for cats and we would never have one. Case closed. I just smiled, and as soon as he left for work the next day, I adopted a little black kitten. All she did was climb into his lap and purr, and that was it. We've been a mixed pet household ever since.
Would love to be on that boat with Juno right about now.
You could not keep our golden retriever out of the water. You couldn't make our collie go into it. Our Pomeranian loves to swim (see my blog for pics). The Princess and the chihuahua are beach blanket dogs.
Juno is delightful! I love how she's looking at the picture like "Are you ready? Are you watching? Are you?"
Colin: Growing up I had two golden/lab mixes (Sampson and Hercules) who loved the water. We'd get extra long leashes to take them to the lake, and they'd always jump in the canoe with us. A couple of times, Hercules would lean his paw out the side of the boat and help us paddle.
My two muttfaces now hate the water, but they're hounds (coonhound mix and a beagle/basset mix). I've tried taking Riley to the lake, but he wants nothing to do with it, and every summer, I try setting up a dog pool for them, but they think it's just a big water bowl. I'm pretty sure it depends on the breed and/or the specific dog's temperament. I'd love another water-loving dog--I love the joy when they play!
Juno looks like a fun dog!
RE do dogs like swimming. Arya tries her best to avoid water. She has gotten excited chasing ducks and run in, but that is rare. It's odd as she's a lab and they typically love water. Ivy (lab/rotting) won't stay out of it and that includes laying in puddles at the dog park.
Juno looks like a fun dog! When I was young, we had a lab Brandy who loved swimming in our pool too much so my dad had to invert a bench and lay it across the pool steps to limit his access. We would move the bench for an hour or two every day, so he could swim.
LOL Manda. My first line is verbatim to yours! No I have not been taking lessons from a certain Trump......... I think it must be because it's obvious that Juno is a fun dog =)
My late fur-baby, Socks, was a St Bernard/Pit Bull mix. He loved the water, but we didn't have anywhere for him to swim. He spent a lot of summer afternoons lying in the creek across the road. One year we had so much rain the creek overran its banks and flooded. Socks spent the entire day swimming around in circles, smaller and smaller circles as the water receded.
Socks has been gone for 8 years. I still miss him every day.
That tennis ball is done. What a lovely curly coated canine Juno is. Beautiful pup.
What a terrific photo! I love Juno's face and her fetching "smile"...
Colin: One of our previous homes had a creek running diagonally through the entire property. We had 12 dogs at the time... a variety of breeds. Some would go bounding toward the creek and launch themselves into the water. Big belly flop! Then romp and play. Some would only wade in to their bellies and simply stand there, lapping water. Others wouldn't even get their toes wet.
That's the way to keep cool, Juno!
Shelties have a natural aversion to water, like they have an instinct to herd sheep or people or anything else.
Kitty: your cat-husband persuasions remind me of my Mom. Dad didn't have a choice in the matter; Mom had a cat when they met. And anytime the house magically spawned a new cat (strays, fosters, etc) we all pretended Dad didn't notice, including Dad.
Good morning, all! Just coming to consciousness here on the West Coast after staying up too late watching the Olympics.
Juno is our gal, the older of two Australian Labradoodles. We keep her coat super-short because she hates being de-burred and de-twigged, and her non-shedding hair grabs everything. Little "sister" Zuzu is not in the photo because she hates the water. Juno would swim the English Channel to fetch a tennis ball, but otherwise she's not interested.
Zuzu is our resident hunter. She goes crazy when my husband fishes from the dock. Unfortunately she's had some success with hunting, including a rattlesnake. That involved a lengthy stay at the vet's office!
Thank you, dear Reiders, for your very kind comments about Juno. She's a great dog and a natural athlete. We call her our "normal" dog :-)
(and Theresa, I'm still chuckling over "elusive query." Sigh.)
Colin: It depends on the breed. Some, like retrievers - especially labs - you can't keep out of the water. They were bred to be hunting dogs, and water is a part of that. With non-hunting breeds, I think it's hit-or-miss. It depends on the dog.
The only big dog I ever fostered was a lab cross named Bo. I couldn't keep up with him, so I took him to the off-leash dog park which has a creek running through it. He made a bee-line for the creek and had a great time. He made a friend - a Jack Russell terrier - who followed him into and out of the water, just to follow him. They were having a great time, just splashing and swimming.
Barbara: Perhaps it's just as well Shelties don't like going in water. My ex had one, and he gave him a bath. Even though he'd brushed him out beforehand, the poor thing matted completely. We had to get him shaved down.
Colin: I have a German Shepard who LOVES water. When we got her as a puppy, she was skittish and afraid of everything (I mean EVERYTHING). It took a week to get her used to going out into the yard.
After a few weeks, when she was about 7 months, we took her on her first ever not-in-our-yard walk. She had conniptions about everything - scared of other dogs, scared of other people, scared of plants, scared of concrete. But when we passed by the beach, she hopped straight into the water without any prompting from us. We were so relieved she wasn't whining from fear we let her play in the water until she was totally exhausted.
To this day, when she sees water, she jumps in it - stick or no stick! :)
What a wonderful picture. I can almost smell the wet dog from here!
I wanna see Juno with a tennis racket in her paw. Then I'll be impressed!
Okay, I'm already impressed she posed for the camera. These photos howl for captions.
"I can't hold this pose forever. Snap the picture and Photoshop a shark in the water. Okay, maybe a tennis ball."
Looks like she's waiting for the command! Love it.
My dog's (lab mix) reasons for existence: people, food, tennis balls. Not sure about the order there...
Looks like John wants a caption challenge. Here's my entry:
"Are you INSANE??"
:)
I think she's saying, "I'll fetch it for you once more, but hang onto it this time, okay?"
Colin - At the park near our house, labs and other retrievers can't wait to launch themselves into the water. Our short-haired terrier doesn't like cold, and while she'll splash a bit along the shoreline, she doesn't like to get wet.
I used to have huskies, who acted as though water was acid. They didn't even like crossing bridges. I suppose it's instinctive -- if they fell through the ice and got wet in winter, they'd probably die.
Am I allowed to enter the caption contest for my own photo? Hmmm. Well, in case I am, here's my entry (although I don't pretend to understand my own dog):
"Pathetic. This is no challenge for the Queen of the Fetchers!"
Okay folks - my caption entry gauntlet has been thrown. Or placed gently on the ground. Dive in! I know ya'll can do better than that!!
And I forgot to say that I really like the captions provided by Colin and Beth!
Caption: Ready... set... Take the picture, dagnabbit, so I can go!
My father-in-law's dalmatian used to swim alongside us when we went canoeing. You couldn't keep that dog out of the water. When he wasn't swimming (and oh, I have stories) he paddled around in the shallows hunting (catching, eating, throwing up) frogs.
Does she play Frisbee too? I once had a dog named Cisco, whom I met in jail, who would steal other peoples Frisbees. He did it in the hopes of getting someone else to play too.
When my niece was young we had a Cocker who would jump into the pool and tow her around when she was in her little tugboat. Had a retriever who would not be left on the shore. She would swim out to the boat if we went fishing.
The only problem I have had with water dogs is that they hate baths. As soon as you bathe them they find a muddy puddle to roll around in too.
I know switching jobs takes a week or two to accomplish. I figure having a job where networking is tantamount takes even longer. I am getting apprehensive though that My Queen is abandoning us. Not even a note or tweet. FinePrint removed her profile within hours and New Leaf tweeted about how pumped they are. Do we Reiders and denizens of the Reef have to continue to read the omens and portents of this or are we going to get some word soon? Even a smoke signal would be helpful.
Craig: A reminder from the July 31 post:
"Dear Readers,
I'm going to take a hiatus from posting in August..."
Hi Craig - Juno does not play frisbee catch. That would be cool, though. She's not a ball stealer, either, but there are a number of those at my local off-leash area. As you say, it's usually a bid to get other dogs (or people) to play with them, so I don't mind. The more fetchers the merrier, I say!
I can relate to your story about water dogs rolling after baths. Juno loves jumping in the lake to get the ball, but then she'll find a patch of dry grass containing large numbers of nasty burrs and roll like crazy.
Growing up in the middle of the Atlantic, we had this lab, Rudy, who was a seasoned fetcher/swimmer.
When we swam off the wharf she'd always be there. If someone felt the urge for a tow she'd let them hang on to her tail and pull them back ashore.
She was one of those dogs lucky enough to have a long active life. We got her when I was seven and she lived just long enough to meet my daughter (born when I was 22). If I had to pick the best part of my childhood, that swimmer/fetcher dog would be it.
Our Aussies used to like getting wet, but living in West Texas, there wasn't a lot of water around like lakes and such near us. Since Don had spoiled the horses since birth by spraying water on them in the summer to cool them off while he was filling water tanks, they were used to water. When someone put a hose in the tank to fill, one of the mares would pick it up with her mouth and clamp down on the end of the hose enough to cause a spray. Then the other horses would come get under the fountain and cool off. When she was tired, she'd drop it back in the tank and another mare would pick it up until they all had a shower.
Sometimes Skidboot would just bury her head in the stock tank like she was trying to drown herself. You'd see bubbles come up and presently she'd lift her head and do it again. I never was sure if she was depressed or just hot.
I guess you have to make do in arid country.
Kitty: I love your cat acquisition story vis-a-vis cat intolerant husband. Men are usually helpless in the face of a one pound kitten. Especially one that jumps in his lap and starts purring. Cats are no dummies. Can you tell I am a cat person?
Craig, being of the somewhat paranoid persuasion, I had fears that Janet was trying to get us weeded out through lack of attention. If we were left to our own devices, we would eventually wander off, maybe someone else would adopt us. After all, haven't we already seen that there used to be a whole other group of Reiders?
I'm sure that's not what she had in mind. She is just busy getting herself settled in the best office at New Leaf, checking out the office cat (they must have one, musn't they?) and getting her pens and pencils lined up acording to size and color.
Time to head outside and do a little bludgeoning of nature. Flora, not fauna.
A little time with nature should help diffuse the craziness of the current political news.
Great picture, Claire! Your Juno looks very much like a stuffed animal my youngest sister had as a child (except it was an elephant). She loved that thing to death and rubbed off patches of "fur" so parts of it looked like Juno's lower back leg. What an odd thing to remember. I agree, Juno looks like she's thinking: "What? That's all the farther you can throw it?"
A friend of mine had a blind cat who LOVED the water. She would take it to the pool and crouch down so her shoulders were at water level and the cat would rest its head on her shoulder and just float there while she moved around the shallow end. Now that's something I wish I'd gotten a pic of.
Julie, I love your horse stories. :)
Thank you everyone for your comments on dogs and water. You guys are the internet at its best! Such great stories in answer to my little question. Y'all are awesome!! :)
Remember a ways back when Julie Weathers talked about a guy climbing in the window that she had to go pay attention to. (Or some such, my memory is as warped as the mind it's inside.) And then we made her tell the rest of the story, which turned out wonderful.
Well, looks like it's Craig's turn. Pass the microphone for this:
"I once had a dog named Cisco, whom I met in jail."
Yeah, um, Craig ... a little elaboration might be in order here. Way to try and sneak that one in during August figuring nobody'd be paying attention. Here's the mic. I'll take a seat.
Oh, and one more caption as long as I'm here:
Voiceover: "Juno will now attempt a one-and-a-half belly flop from the tuck position. Degree of difficulty ... zero."
Okay, back to you Craig.
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