Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Drive Doesn't Float

It's going to be how hot today?


To be honest, Drive doesn't care for the pool much. This is as wet as he'll get unless someone splashes him. Other pictures will show, however, that he has no problem jumping off embankments into rivers and mud puddles. A sandy beach area was met with suspicion, though.

When he was very new to home life, we took Drive to a relative's house. They have a lovely pool, about three and a half feet deep, with a deck, and Drive was intensely curious about the whole set-up. I had no plans to swim, so of course I was wearing jeans and sneakers when Drive decided to test his own divinity.

Apparently no one at the racetrack taught the dogs that sometimes, water has depth. Drive fully expected the water to support his weight. It failed. I had time to think, "My dog is going to drown! And I'm going to have to pay for this pool liner!" before I was in there with him, noodling him back up out of the pool until he flopped on the deck like a baffled 80-pound goldfish. Since then, he's had a distrust of any unnatural body of water.

Oh, of course I was in bed for the next two days with my back and shoulder muscles punishing me for lifting that much wet dog shoulder-high and then onto the deck. And of course I got a rash from having to wear wet jeans for the next several hours. I'm sure it wouldn't have been possible without buoyancy and adrenaline.

And I learned a couple things about how "smart" Drive really is. "S-M-R-T," to quote Homer Simpson. That's my boy.

6 comments:

  1. Well, he did get you to fish him out and you were the one with a rash and a sore back, so he might be smarter than you give him credit for! Tee hee! Drive always makes me smile!

    Bunny

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  2. My very favorite Cairn Terrier, Jaime, was just a puppy when he did the very same thing...he was trying to 'walk' out to be with me....oh my.

    Be that as it may, I did the very same thing, and he was out of the pool almost before he was in, but it was enough to complete make him fearful of any water. ANY.

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  3. Barbie tried to run out into the ocean the first time she saw it - at top speed. She fell pretty hard, and in the few seconds it took her to get up and above the breakers I thought I was going to have to pull her out. :P

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