“Let’s take the dogs to the river!”
That was my brilliant exclamation that lead to a morning long adventure.
We got changed, grabbed the leashes, poop bags, water, and every other essential needed for a trip with your dogs. We had driven 20 minutes across town when Nick realized that we forgot to record the World Cup game.
Crap! It was the France v. Germany game and we did NOT want to miss it! We didn’t want to drive back across town, so Nick had the idea to run into Barnes and Noble, download some app, and use it to set our DVR to record (I really have no idea how all that works). I sat in the car with the pups while he ran in and attempted to work his magic. About 15 minutes later, we were back on the road.
“Wait! We only have one 30 ft lead. We should run to Petco quickly and grab another one.”
No one ever runs to Petco quickly. It was the Fourth of July so sales were everywhere! Every time I walked through an aisle I found something else that I wanted to try out and pass on to all of you.
Focus, Kelsie.
I found the leashes, grabbed a 30 ft lead, and headed to the cash register. Now, I typically have a lot of patience for situations that aren’t necessarily the most polite. The woman in front of me was friends with the cashier and they just stood there talking for what felt like forever. She wasn’t buying anything; just chatting. I was ready to get to the river!
Finally, we made it to the parking area by the river and the ground was covered in glass. It was like a maze getting the dogs through it without stepping on any glass. There’s a beautiful trail by the river and I thought it would be nice to go for a walk before we let the dogs in the water. Then I realized, I forgot the bug spray.
My legs, arms, and shirt were covered in mosquitoes. For some reason, they prefer to snack on me rather than Nick. I looked at the dogs and saw Atka was covered as well! We ran back to the car and I soaked myself in bug repellent. That helped to keep the mosquitoes away from Atka. I do need to get something specific for dogs though. Recommendations?
“Okay, NOW let’s walk.”
The weather was beautiful, we weren’t being eaten, and the dogs were being lovely. People were stopping to pet and ask questions about the dogs. Mauja and Atka were loving the attention! We turned a corner and walked right into a mass of people. Being the curious ones we are, we decided to walk around and see what all the people were there for.
Duh, its Independence Day. There’s a parade.
Thankfully, they hadn’t started, but they were getting very close. Mauja is terrified of sirens so we made a bee line back in the other direction. Now we were all hot, gross, and wanting to cool off. After a nice water break, we decided it was river time!
We took off the dogs’ normal leashes and put on their 30 ft leads. Since they had never been in swimming depth water and there can be currents on the river, I wanted to be extra safe. Plus, I’ve told you before how wonderful a pyr recall is… ๐
I grabbed Atka’s leash and we ran down toward the water.
Splash!
He jumped into the water, ran as far as he could, and then immediately started swimming! I could not believe it! This was his first time in the water and he was swimming like he’s been doing it his entire life. He had a blast!
Mauja hasn’t decided to try swimming yet. She loves wading and splashing in the water, but her paws need to be able to touch the ground. That is more of what I expected from Atka since pyrs aren’t typically water dogs. Who would have known!
Mauja, Atka, Nick, and I all swam around in the water until we were nice and tired.
I don’t think you will be surprised to know that we all fell asleep before the fireworks started at 10:30.
How did you spend your Independence Day? Do your dogs like to swim?
We are joining the Monday Mischief blog hop hosted by Snoopy’s Dog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies. Grab the badge, find some friends, and join in on the mischief!
Haha how funny! Sounds kind of like us all last week… we went to the waterpark, lake, and birthday party and I swear each time we had to make like 10 stops. OK, that’s an exaggeration. But we did go into Walgreens 3 different times on our way out to the lake.
Now stopping at Walgreens 3 different times for one trip is quite impressive!
That is awesome! My Kuvasz sister Katie can’t stand being wet, gets really mad just going out in the rain. Mom tried starting at 9 weeks old to get her to swim with her other dog in the North Sea, but she wouldn’t do it. If it is really hot she will put her paws in, but never even up to her belly. The dogs look great here! Love them!
She’s too beautiful to get wet ๐
She probably does find it beneath her. She can’t stand getting dirty either!
Looks like lots of fun. Our holiday was wet, so we didn’t do the things we usually do.
That’s such a bummer. Hopefully you were still able to enjoy the holiday weekend!
What fun! I was just thinking that we need to take our dogs to the river. LOVE your Pyrs!
Thanks! You should definitely make the trip. It was quite entertaining ๐
Sounds like a great day!! Delilah is all water, she hears it and she is on a mission to get in it. Sampson likes to have his feet on the ground, he will wade in, lay down enough to cool off and then he’s out. ๐
It’s so interesting how different they all are. Neither of mine have laid down in the water. I always thought it was off that they hadn’t tried.
Looks like lots of fun! Hope the water wasn’t to cold.
It was cold for me, but the dogs loved it!
Wow! What a crazy adventure you had!!!! And then you didn’t even get to see fireworks!? BOL!!! Crazy! I am so glad to hear that you all had a good time once you got to the river though!
แฆ husky hugz แฆ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
We decided sleep was more enticing ๐
We have never tested Riley to see if he could swim, but since his legs are so short and stumpy, I doubt he would do too well! I empathize with your mosquito problem; they were pretty ridiculous here too!
I LOVE your new blog design! ๐
Thank you so much! That was my holiday weekend project ๐ You should go to a shallow area just to see if Riley would like the water! Even though Mauja doesn’t swim, she loves splashing around where she can touch. I still can’t believe Atka can swim. He’s your typical uncoordinated, adolescent, giant breed.
Bwa ha ha! I’ve had those kinds of adventures.
I will say that since we’ve gone car-free we’ve gotten much more organized. No quick trips back to the house or into the store when your walk to the marina and back is 6 miles!
It’s funny to see how some dogs take to swimming and other don’t. I thought for sure my golden retriever would love to swim like I do. But she like’s Atka’s approach of wading near the edge.
I would definitely be more organized if we were car free! I don’t think my dogs could make it 6 miles, swim, and then get back home ๐ That’s so interesting that your golden isn’t much of a swimmer. I just assumed they were all naturals!
Sounds like fun! Except for the unexpected stops and the BUGS. Ugh, I hate mosquitoes. Luckily they are quite rare here so I don’t really know what folks do for dogs being dive-bombed by them?? Rita loves to get wet – loves to splash about and plunk down in the water, but she hates to swim. She’ll do it if I walk out far enough that she has to swim to me, but she doesn’t like it! She wants her feet to touch the bottom.
You’re lucky to be away from them! I grew up in PA and thought mosquitoes were bad there, but after living in Montana I’d gladly take the PA mosquitoes! Hopefully, I can find something that works for Atka. He has bug bites all over his nose ๐ Does Rita lie down in the water? Mauja won’t even do that!
Mr. N can swim. He just doesn’t like to. I think part of it is that he gets cold so easily (single coat and no insulation) that he doesn’t like getting wet.
That makes sense. I wouldn’t want to get that cold either!
Pet Naturals of Vermont is he best if the many pet bug repellents I have used. Adventures with three dogs always go this way… ๐
I actually have that and had no idea I could use that against mosquitoes! Thanks!
LOL That sounds like a day I would have, except insert “I have to go the the bathroom” or “I’m thirsty” in there as well. ๐ Sounds like a fun day. Mine do like to swim, too, although some more than others.
Haha! Kind of sounds like my husband. Hopefully, he doesn’t read this ๐
I love that first picture! Ash and Diesel love the water, but Scout and Teddy hate it. They are the labs and you would think that they would like it! Your two look like they are having a blast!
They did have a blast! I didn’t think it was possible for a lab to not enjoy water ๐
Bentley has never been swimming before. I don’t know if he’d do well. basset hounds aren’t known for being Michael Phelps in the water! We have mosquitoes really bad and they LOVE me. For the boys, I use Pet Naturals flea & tick wipes. It works miracles on the skeeters! It looks like y’all had a fabulous time. Did the game record? I don’t understand how that works either! haha!
I think those adorable basset hound ears might drag him down ๐ I have the flea and tick wipes, yet somehow I had no idea I could use them for mosquitoes! I’m going to try them out on our walk tonight. The game did record! I’m still not positive how Nick did it, but I just go with it!
On our last trip with the dogs, we got to our denstination and realized we left all the leashes on the table at home. Hello Petsmart! My dogs are both like Mauja … they like playing in the water as long as their feet can touch the ground. Looks like everyone had a wonderful holiday adventure … glad you could enjoy the day ๐
It was definitely a nice holiday weekend. What would we do without the convenience of shops?!
Our golden Sheba loves to swim, but her late brother Moses also had to feel his paws on the ground….we never could get him to really swim. Now our young one Luke is loving it too though! We did the same thing and kept a long leash on him for his first times (we need to get an even longer one like you did, ours was only 12 feet I think). We won’t let him loose until we’ve worked more on his recall!
It will be awhile until ours are let loose. The recall thing isn’t very important when they’re having fun ๐