Pools close to humans on Labor Day but it usually takes a while for the closing process for the winter to be complete. And sometimes this benefits pets. For instance, this weekend at the Maplewood Family Aquatic Center they are holding a Dog Swim, "Where Pooches Rule the Pool." Proceeds benefit the Maplewood Dog Park.
Lots of dogs brought their humans to the pool today. Big dogs, small dogs, all breeds were there. The pool is one of the kind where you can wade in slowly and then it gets deeper and deeper the further out you go, so it was perfect for frolicking pooches. Humans were allowed only to wade in up to their knees but the dogs could swim anywhere.
It was a beautiful day and we knew it would probably get crowded so we went right when it opened at 1:00. Also, although Truman loves water, he had never been in the water with so many dogs so we didn't know how distracting he would find them. It turned out that, as far as Truman was concerned, there were no other dogs, There was just him, the water and his dummy. (No, I don't mean my sister.)
In fact, you might say he was obsessed with the dummy. He is, after all, a retriever. And that's what he does. Retrieve.
The further away the dummy landed the happier he was. Here he is (that little black dot) swimming it back from across the pool.
I'm convinced that he would retrieve as long as someone was willing to throw. Or until he drowned himself, whichever came first. Occasionally another dog would try to make friends. Here's one who didn't swim as well as Truman and needed a life jacket:
But Truman was single minded. The dummy existed. The dummy must be thrown and retrieved. After more than an hour of straight retrieving he was one happy dog.
And tired too.
