The Buoyant Basset
2 Comments Published by Jason on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9/17/2008 01:52:00 AM.
Though Baxter could hardly be considered the Michael Phelps of dogs, he faired pretty well with his foray into swimming on Labor Day.
Since Baxter's only prior experiences with water in non-bath situations had consisted of walking into ponds up to his chest, we had to coax (well, coerce really) him into the lake.
Once I let him loose, though, he proved to be a quick learner, aided by his big paws and loose skin and fat.
Your story brought back memories of how I taught my lab to swim. As a proud father, I must admit though, I had nothing to do with it. You'd be amazed at how fast a lab will go barreling into the water once you throw his favorite tennis ball out into the pond.
A tennis ball wouldn't have worked for Baxter. I bet he'd have jumped in for a brotwurst, though.