Wednesday, June 27, 2012

why Pauley must be leashed while swimming



For many years I have taken my dogs to the lake with me. Usually we find a spot to pull over; take off towards the lake & we all swim for awhile. I have done this forever with Annie, Chloe & Ginger. Then along comes Pauley & the first several times he goes with us to the lake, he behaves. And THEN............... My sister Karrie & I loaded up Ciera (last year) & Pauley & made the drive out to the lake. Even though it was a billion degrees, we humans were not going to swim.  Pauley jumps right in.
 To say that he is a dog that enjoys water would be an understatement. He is ecstatic as soon as he realizes we are anywhere near water; even a large puddle. So back to the story...Pauley stays right near us in the beach area, but refuses to come out; even after repeated calls for him & the offering of "good" treats. So I think, well I would like to leave right now, but I guess we will have to wait it out. Flash forward a little while & Pauley decides the beach area is not good enough anymore!!
 
 He starts swimming for the open water (fast boats FAST BOATS!!)! Of course I jump in (fully clothed remember) & start swimming while yelling his name. What does Pauley do? Whatever he wants, because he completely ignores me. I finally catch up to him & have to swim/carry him all the way back to shore. Do you think he was one bit upset? Nope, he was as happy as a duck in water. Haha!
 The rest of last summer was spent on leash in the water. This year thinking he has matured & calmed down, we tried letting him off leash while we were in the water with him. This did not work either as he just starts swimming & forgets the rest of the world. I have never seen a dog so obsessed with water. Pauley has a good recall as long as you are on dry land......

17 comments:

S.P.A.R.E. pets outreach said...

So cute! He's a little fishy :)

Anonymous said...

Oh geeze Pauley! You are so comical! Love this!

Jan said...

Pauley may grow fins and gills.

H Ski said...

He looks like he loves it!!

Unknown said...

Its funn people forget about recall in water. i struggled with that in regards to haylie for the first few years. I actually put her in a life vest because I was afraid she was going to tire herself out and be too far away. Also the life vest slowed her down :) I think its awesome that he loves the water though :)

Unknown said...

We just bought him a life vest. We are hoping to try it out this weekend :)

Sarah said...

I don't feel so bad about having to tether the dogs while camping now. At least they stay close to shore while swimming!

Our Sadie is just as obsessed with water as Pauley but she swims back and forth close to shore - no heading for deep waters. We have the same problem with her not listening to us. Technically, she sorta listens. We call her, she comes towards us and then ZOOMS past us and back into the water. I don't leash her but I always approach water knowing that I've got to be patient and let her get her water crazies out before expecting her to listen to me again.

Do you, at some level, enjoy Pauley's love of the water? As much as Sadie can be a pain in the rear about H20, it makes her so incredibly happy that it makes me happy, even if I'm frustrated by being ignored.

Unknown said...

Oh we love watching Pauley swim! He is at his happiest in the water. We are all about having fun, but just wish we did not have to keep him on leash. We do use a retractable one (only in water) so that he does get to swim out some. And if possible, we get in the water with him.

Trixie, Lily, and Sammy-Joe said...

OMG, Pauley, be careful! You're gonna give us a heart attack!

English Rider said...

There's definitely a water-dog inside that colorful skin. He looks so happy (but what a pain, to have to swim after him!).
There was a dog rescue on our local news today. A wheaten terrier got stuck 40 ft up an oak tree chasing after a squirrel.

Emily said...

Hilarious! I am sure it wasn't so hilarious when you had to swim him to shore, however. His joy is so apparent!

Kari in Alaska said...

silly pauly!

Stop on by for a visit
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com

volunteer4paws said...

hahah! what a character!

we have to keep the leash on our tsuki, as well. she doesn't seem to understand that water just gets deeper after a while :/

Two Pitties in the City said...

I wonder if his DNA test would show he's part seal? Pauly is too cute!

Kirsten (peacefuldog) said...

Haha he sure does look happy! I know how frustrating those moments are, but I think you'll be getting laughs out of those pictures and that story for years to come.

Lorenza said...

Oh-oh!
I now know you really love water, Pauley!
I read it... and saw it in the pictures!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

chandra said...

Okay, now that is scary AND awesome at the same time. I saw in the comments that you bought him a life vest. GREAT idea! I can see energizer Pauley just going and going and going ....

He does look completely BLISSED out!

-Chandra at Daley's Dog Years