Swim Day!!!

Today our friends came over to go swimming. What fun we had. Below is a good picture of Kiwi, before everyone got wet. Kiwi is settling in and playing with us. What fun we have running and playing chase. We even have some good tug-o-war games.

The resident chauffeur does not let us swim very often. Just when he invites company over. He says it is too much work to dry several wet dogs at once. It was a hot day so he invited Evie, Sarg and Sorsha along with their foster Sarah. He even allowed the humans to come along, which is good since they brought along a huge sack of used tennis balls. Evie is not a big water dog, but she will swim a little. Sarg and Sorsha get in and want to stay in, forever. They collect all of the floating tennis balls, then start barking at the humans to throw more. Boy did we have fun swimming.

Kiwi and Sarah are both about 14 months old, and boy did they become friends. In moments they were running and playing in the grass. neither one of them had been swimming before, so it took time for them to come near the pool.

Below, Sarah's foster mom is helping Sarah into the pool for the first time. Sarah was not too sure about it at first, but she very quickly became a swimming champ.

It only took a few minutes for Sarah to decide she liked swimming. She found out that she was a water dog. First she was hesitant about using the stairs, but she worked up her nerve and she practiced until she was jumping into the pool from the side.

Below, Sarah makes a leap after her duck. She used the stairs until her stuffed duck was thrown in and it looked like someone else could get to it first, then she learned to jump in ahead of them.
After learning to make small jumps into the pool, Sarah works her way up the skill ladder.

Below, Sarah makes a giant leap into the pool.

Sarah is so small that when she is wet it does not look like there is really a dog under that hair. She shook so hard that rain was falling on everyone.

Below, Sarah checks out the duck decoy. A Golden Retriever can not be too careful, someday there may be a real duck and we have to be prepared. Kiwi is keeping her company from on shore. Kiwi is not as sold on the water as Sarah is.

Kiwi tried the water once, she was not too sure about it. She did not get courage to go in again although she wanted to. She just could not get up the nerve. We think that next time Kiwi gets the chance she will do better. Remember, Kiwi is very timid about everything, today was a day that pushed her limits. She met four new friends and she loved playing with them. Day by day we see Kiwi becoming more relaxed and willing to explore new things. Kiwi and Sarah became such great friends that the humans are planning on scheduling play dates for the two fosters to get together.

The star of today was Sarah. Sarah made a great step forward. She jumped into the water to fetch her favorite stuffed duck. Today Sarah learned that she loved the water and she loved swimming. She is a water dog, a real Golden Retriever. Tomorrows post will have Sarah's story in it, and you will understand why Sarah is such a miracle. Watching her have fun running and playing was so much fun. The humans just watched and laughed. They decided that today was a great success.

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Thanks for reading,

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Mogley G. Retriever