Here's how they did.
I love Sadie. She's my sweet, wants to please type of girl. Smart, she is not. She loved the pool. She just couldn't figure out how to get in or out by herself. It started with the Hubster "helping" her in. And by helping, he pretty much picked up and tossed. She loved it!
Round in circles she swam. We soon realized that she had no idea how to get out of the pool. Thankfully, Maggie was there to show her the way.
Then she couldn't figure out how to get back in. Round the pool she ran. Bark, whine, crazy Sadie sounds? Check. Then she came up next to me, put her front paws in and looked back at me with an expression that definitely was asking "Please?" I obliged and pushed her in with a laugh. And for Sadie, that is apparently how to get into the pool. Ask Mom or Dad for a little help. We tried and tried to encourage her to get in on her own but she was having none of it. So pushed into the pool she was for the rest of the day.
Maggie was pretty predictable. All it took was a ball. She did take a little bit of time to warm up to the whole jumping in thing but quickly embraced the dive.
And Hurley?
Hurley Badger Don't Swim. The Hubster was able to get ahold of him once to toss him in and after that, forgettaboutit. He kept his distance from both of us (c'mon Hurley! Mom didn't do anything except take pictures!) and would have nothing to do with it.
For the record, I would not advocate tossing your dogs into a pool to introduce them to it. We knew Sadie's love of water and Maggie's love of ball would set us up for success with the pool so the tossing was mostly for our amusement. Hurley was never meant to be a swimmer - getting him in the pool that one time showed me that if he ever falls in somewhere, he can figure out how to swim and that was my only goal with the pool and Hurley.
Love it. We are looking for a new house and would love to have a pool for Nola to swim in. She loves water but has never been in a pool, so it will be interesting!
ReplyDeleteDo it! It's so much fun! Although, we realized that if we ever do have a pool or live right on the water, Sadie is going to be swimming 365 days a year.
DeleteToo cute. Though I have to admit I was always the Hurley of the crew sitting on the side of the pool. We've always wanted to try this with our pooches. Mr. B's foster mom lived by a lake, and she said he used to sink because he was so muscular. I think he would need water wings.
ReplyDeleteI too was the lounge by the side of the pool gal. :)
DeleteThat's funny that you say that about Mr B. Hurley's previous experience with being in water over his head was when he stepped out on a lily pad from a dock and sunk. Instead of popping back up, he walked along the bottom of the pond to shore. That's why I really wanted to test him out in the pool to see if he would start paddling. Dude's definitely going to need a life jacket if we ever take him out on a boat!
Funny how the ad for Hurley (and Max by default) said they would be excellent water dogs. Max is like The Grinch when it comes to water..."Loathe entirely!!!!" At the beach, the waves irritated him. The sprinkler runoff in our driveway that was literally a centimeter deep? He jumped over it, which was fairly amusing when daddy kept crossing it on purpose :-) He did surprise us at Lost Lake the other day and willingly walked into about a foot of water. We have a pond on one of our properties and Randy has a bad habit of throwing Maxers in. He was raised around labs, and they were all swimmers, I told him not to do that, some dogs can't swim!!!
ReplyDeleteHurley jumps over puddles - he won't even walk through them. Hates the hose, sprinkler, kiddie pool. But if he can wade in, he'll go up to his chest and then "defend" the shore against his swimming sisters. :)
DeletePoor Hurley. He's missing all the fun.
ReplyDeleteHoney doesn't swim either. She can. She just doesn't want to. But she likes wading in the shallows. I was a little disappointed. But now that we're moving toward living on a boat, I'm kinda relieved to not have one of those crazy dogs that jumps into the water whenever he's not tied down.
BTW, I wonder if Hurley would feel more comfortable at a pond or lake where he could get in and out on his own terms?
It has been my experience with many dogs that mine either love swimming or really hate it. Misty the alpha Poodle sees water and she is there. Timmy the stud muffin growls if his water dish splashes him. Hurley would be his hero.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing Cali will do is sit on the top step! She doesn't like it when her feet leave the ground!! Two out of three is not bad :) Hurley just prefers the solid ground!!
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