It was the third or fourth day around 90* and 14,000% humidity and the dogs had been finding places to pant all day so we decided that a nice late afternoon dip in the pond was what we all needed. We packed up the dogs and our new floaty tubes and headed off to Hamblin's Pond just a few minutes down the road from our house. Brody has been there many times before as it's one of few places dogs can go to fresh water during the summer but Glacier hasn't been there before.
Since we got Glacier late in the summer last year, I only took her swimming once. She spent the whole time sniffing the shoreline and running back and forth ankle deep so I didn't really get a sense of her swimming skills.
She can swim. It's kind of funny to watch as she's SO lean she has to work hard to stay afloat the whole time but she can swim - something my old girl Jericho pretty much refused to do... unless she saw a child swimming and then she felt she had to go in and haul him/her out by the bathing suit.
Because there was another couple at the pond (who turned out to be dog lovers and enjoyed the show immensely) we kept both dogs on long leashes the whole time. A and I each flopped into our tubes and pushed off from shore - him with Brody and a water toy and me with Glacier.
Throwing the toy is the best way to get a ride from Brody - I couldn't help but think of my brother in-law Don's stories of harnessing his dog to a sled and then throwing bits of hot dogs in front of him for some fun in the snow. Brody is a stronger swimmer than Glacier - he's got more bulk and experience and seems to be more driven to chase the toy. Glacier enjoyed pulling me toward the mucky areas where things smelled good and the dragonflies were flitting about piquing her curiosity. She would occasionally swim out to me, around me (wrapping the leash underneath me) and back to shore or chase Brody chasing the toy.
We spent about an hour tossing the toy with us barely getting much further than 15-20' from shore and then Brody signaled that he was done swimming for the toy by prancing around with it in his mouth while trying to woof at and chomp at the lapping water - a feat not easily accomplished with a toy in his mouth. Glacier's resting "game" was to climb halfway into A's lap - front paws up and back paws on the pond bottom - and push him around. Then she decided to use this technique (minus A and the tube) to get to the ducks. That dog was swimming with her front paws and bouncing off the bottom with her back paws while craning her neck gopher-style to keep an eye on the ducks over her own splashing. She was completely vertical!
We laughed so hard at all of their antics and they had a ball just being silly dogs.
Then it was bath time because the truck ride home smelled like swamp gas. Thank goodness we've got an outdoor shower!
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