Pages

Friday, September 03, 2010

Swimming

Duncan and I have gone swimming with my friend, Renee, and her dogs a couple of times. We always have a lot of fun and end up staying in the water much longer than I would have by myself. On our last trip to the lake I took a waterproof disposable camera (I'm always afraid I'll drop my little digital in the water), and I think it did a pretty good job.

Duncan seems like he's really enjoying the whole swimming thing. Of course, he still panics for the first few minutes, and he still thinks the safest place is on my shoulders, but we're making progress. This picture looks like he's smiling, but if you look really closely, he looks a bit deranged around the eyes. He's probably gauging whether or not the risk of drowning me during his climb is worth it....


Renee's dog, Merlin, likes to be held while he takes a break from swimming. The first time we went to the lake with them, Duncan saw Renee holding Merlin several times, and he decided that wasn't such a bad idea. So now, everytime Duncan swims to me, he tries to get me to hold him. There's one significant difference between the dogs, though - Merlin only weighs 40 lbs. Duncan and I have worked out a relatively satisfactory solution. As long as I can brace myself before he climbs into my arms, we do okay. Duncan usually ends up with his front feet on my leg and my arm under his back legs. Thank goodness for Duncan's life jacket...


When Duncan has me hold his front legs (which is what I'm doing in this picture), I'm not sure if he's actually kicking his back legs or just letting them dangle. I know he's not bracing himself on the bottom. I really think he's trusting me and his life jacket to support him.


Anytime I swim away from shore, Duncan follows me. Sometimes he turns around before I do, but he always comes back out for me. I've started letting him pull me back towards the shore. Its funny to watch his hips when he's doing this, because they move side to side fairly slowly, until I let go. He picks up a lot of speed when he dumps all that extra weight...


And here's Duncan's opinion on the whole thing...


Of course, he wasn't complaining when we stopped at Bruster's for ice cream (they have pup treats, too).

4 comments:

John Van said...

That looks like fun. I should bring my horse. You'll have to brace yourself really well when he swims over for you to hold him.

German Shepherd Mom said...

Maybe we just won't tell Jack there's even the option of being held...

Laura said...

so happy to see Duncan enjoying himself! the photos made us smile - thanks for posting them :)

Anonymous said...

Glad I finally get to see the pics.....really looks like you both had fun....even if Duncan does sometimes have that "deer in the headlights" look every so often!!!
:)Love, Mom