There are a lot of dog people in Chicago, so the city is pretty good to us. At Belmont Harbor, on the near north side, there is a little beach dedicated to dogs - a place where they can swim, fetch toys from the water, etc. SMD and I decided it was "Sink or Swim" time for Doc. My chief concern was that he may not be an able swimmer (unlikely given his mix of breeds, but still) and I wanted to ensure that if he someday fell into a pool, he wouldn't....you know, drown.
So we rolled up our pants, waded out in the ICY water, and gave it our best. I stood in the shallow, while SMD took Doc out about 4 feet and placed him in the water to swim back to me. Several minutes and a couple frozen toes later, Doc was tired of swimming and decided to smell his way around the beach. Which meant that I was brushing sand off of him the entire rest of the weekend, but I digress.
Had the water been warmer, I feel he would have taken to it much more readily. Instead, he avoided it and would only walk in if baited with treats. Which meant that I spent the entire time with treats in my pocket, surrounded by huge, wet, super-olfactory-powered beasts. Creatures that could have knocked me over with one jump, hairy mongrels that, when standing, were taller than I am. There was a point where multiple dogs were aware that I had the t-r-e-a-t-s and I couldn't even bend down to the ground to reward my own little pooch for his brave swimming efforts.
Turns out he can swim quite well! But he doesn't exactly like it.
So we rolled up our pants, waded out in the ICY water, and gave it our best. I stood in the shallow, while SMD took Doc out about 4 feet and placed him in the water to swim back to me. Several minutes and a couple frozen toes later, Doc was tired of swimming and decided to smell his way around the beach. Which meant that I was brushing sand off of him the entire rest of the weekend, but I digress.
Had the water been warmer, I feel he would have taken to it much more readily. Instead, he avoided it and would only walk in if baited with treats. Which meant that I spent the entire time with treats in my pocket, surrounded by huge, wet, super-olfactory-powered beasts. Creatures that could have knocked me over with one jump, hairy mongrels that, when standing, were taller than I am. There was a point where multiple dogs were aware that I had the t-r-e-a-t-s and I couldn't even bend down to the ground to reward my own little pooch for his brave swimming efforts.
Turns out he can swim quite well! But he doesn't exactly like it.
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