I took the dogs swimming
today. I have not been swimming Chord
while she was busy with motherhood.
Rather nice not having her along since she’s my wildest swimmer. While Chord was off the swim team I added in
young Ike, Poe and Etta. The energy on
the shore while I'm strapping on life vests then opening the gate is unbearable
on a good day. Today I added Chord back
in, another voice against reason. I was
swatting various barking dogs with spare life vests. Then came the worst part, turning my back to
the water crazed horde to open the gate.
Of course the chain was stuck. At
this point some dogs were screaming like air raid sirens and some were simply
barking like fools. Unable to bear the
din I ended up breaking a big leafy branch off a bush to use as a weapon. It was complete with some sort of little
fruits that went everywhere when it made contact. I thwacked a couple more dogs and pummeled
the ground by my kayak, filling the boat with little hard fruits. I finally managed to get the gate unlatched
while the dogs were kept to a low whimpering and yapping.
They are still bad at the
end 20 minutes later, with some dogs willing to come out to be disrobed, but then plunge back in
practicing their dock dog leaps. It
takes constant reminding to get them back to shore again. Last time Poe thought perhaps the recall was
optional. He was somewhat shocked to
learn I will dive in that skanky pond to get a teenage pup who misunderstands
the requirements of life. He was even
more shocked to learn that I can out swim him even wearing jeans and a T
shirt. All those years of swim team are
coming in useful.
They are just as bad when
hitching up to the dog sled. At least
when going swimming I'm not trusting them with my life.
People sometimes comment how
well behaved my dogs are. I don’t
mention the canine riots that occur on a regular basis.
