The condo sits on a lake (playing to my love of water), has a community pool (love of swimming), lots of light and a fireplace. J later bought a kayak to paddle around and this summer we bought a life vest for me. (Much better than me wearing a men's extra large and having it essentially strangle me every time I sit down in it.) Another aside: the life vest says "Ho Sports" on it in hot pink. That alone made me want to buy it. Every time I see it, I end up in a fit of giggles. Plus, it was from Costco, J's mecca. Ok, back to the real point of the entry.
When I was little I had a curmudgeon of a dog named Henry. Henry was a Scottie as well, but a very large Scottie who actually was the runt of the litter. We would take Henry with us to Ginny and Pop (maternal grandparents) to swim in their pool. A couple of times, maybe more, my brother and I would be playing and the dog decided to join us. This then cued Ginny to say, "Damn dog!" and jump in to save him. Scotties are shaped like mailboxes with heads and little skinny legs. Essentially they sink.
Back when I first went out with my back, J and I took Edgar to the lakeside to play fetch. The ball landed in the water and much to my surprise, Edgar went in after it. I began to panic. But Edgar is not a typical Scottie. He is very long and tall for this breed and definitely would not win best in show...well that and he doesn't have any nads.
He's always been a bit athletic. We call him Leapin' Lizards at times because he can do things like jump on beds (no other Scottie I've had could do this), jump on my counter (see previous entry with destroyed kitchen), and once jumped out of my car while we were at the park because he saw another dog. That was the scariest day of my life so far. Mom and I got home to see we only had 2 dogs, not 3. We found him in the park and all I could do was hold him and cry. We no longer roll down the windows. At any rate, back to the swimming!
Edgar and I went to play a game of fetch the other day. He loves this game. But inevitably the ball lands in the water.
The first time he went in after it I freaked out, but J held me back and Edgar found sheer joy in just wading around figuring out he could drink the water while he walked then began to venture out further. As seen here:
This progresses into more of a shore wading/venturing out further. Mind you, the ball is now being carried off further into the lake by the current.
Edgar then sees the ball (aka, eye on the prize) and begins to go after it. This usually starts with him belly flopping out into the deeper water.
And then he tries to get the ball, but ends up inhaling more water and pushing the ball further away. By now, I'm freaking out because he is so far out there and I begin to call him back while simultaneously starting to prep myself for going in after him. It takes him awhile to give up, but he will swim back to shore.
We do end up losing quite a few balls, which we may go get the kayak out to retrieve. But Edgar is very very proud of himself and happy, scrawny legs and all. Good thing he likes water because he always ends up in the bathtub after a swim in the lake.
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