Strong Swimmers

(Woodinville, WA) I'm beginning to think that by the end of the summer, a couple of our dogs could be permanently water logged.

In reality they are only swimming about twice a week. But if it were up to the boys, they would be swimming at least twice a day.

Slugger loves to dive off the side although he isn't the most graceful. He always ends up under the water even though he is wearing a life jacket. Slugger is an extremely strong swimmer so doesn't need a life jacket for that purpose but it helps keep him a little higher in the water so he doesn't swallow so much water.



I have to think he is swallowing plenty of water as he grabs for the toy while he is definitely under water. So I'm not really sure the life jacket serves much of a purpose....but we have him wear it just in case.



Slugger is such a strong swimmer that he really moves the water.




Many dogs don't use their back legs much when they swim but Slugger makes it look like he has a motor hooked to his hind end. I think it is because when he was a very young puppy he had surgery on his front leg. He had to do a lot of swim therapy for his recovery. At the beginning it hurt a lot to use his front legs. So he used his back legs to keep him afloat. He's never stopped the vigorous use of his back legs while swimming. Fortunately, he uses his front ones perfectly now as well.




We thought it would be interesting to see what Boogie would do if we threw two balls at one time. Notice the two balls in the air.




Just like Slugger, Boogie tends to spend a fair amount of time under water. No matter how hard Boogie tried, he never was able to get both balls in his mouth at the same time.




I only included this picture to show you how far Boogie was diving today. Normally we consider an excellent jump one where he lands a couple inches after the white circle you see on the decking. Here he is a good two to two and a half feet beyond the white circle. Next time we go swimming I'll have to measure to see how far he dove.




I can just see Boogie's little brain thinking: "What do you mean we're done."




When we got back in the RV, Boogie found a deer antler to chew on. 2iggie tried to steal it (she's quite the bully) but I told her that wasn't polite. So here she is trying really hard to be polite. Doesn't she look pitiful.




Don't let her fool you!

Debbie
5/1-5/10