Tuesday, June 29, 2010

swimming lesson 1

Yesterday was the day our pups learned how to swim in our pool. Not that it was their idea, but it was necessary. Both are excellent swimmers, but they don't know it yet.

We are still battling skunk stink (I've gotten quite used to it). Not as much as before, but every time they get wet, they stink. They get wet a lot these days. Yesterday was lovey, sunny and warm, and it was time for another deskunk treatment, which involves a bubble bath at the end. It was clear that we would not stay dry ourselves, because the pups don't like bubble bath, even though they play with water all the time. Give Happy the turned on hose and he can entertain himself as long as we let him. He drags it as far as it goes, and takes the end biting it, and spraying it in all directions. He loves it when we point the spray high, and he runs through the water falling down.

Denny is not so much for this game, but rather likes to stand in the wading pool and dig until it's empty.

May 21-21

We did not take any pictures yesterday, because it was too wet, and everything went so fast.

May 21-20

Usually they have a lot of fun and are wet to the bone when they are done. Photos are older ones, but it's alwyas the same. They end up being wet and tired. They use this pillow bed to rub themselves dry. And after all the excitement they sleep like angels.

May 20-wet and tired= good puppy-1

At one point they are both VERY relaxed.

May 27-1

May 27-2

Oh yes, I wanted to tell you about swimming lesson. We were told to nudge them in and help them find the way to the stairs. Hmmm.
It's easy to nudge them in ONCE. They wont go near you from then on, when you stand near the pool, they aint no dummies!

Happy showed more panic when swimming, and tried to climb out at the edge. My son had to jump in the pool to guide him to the stairs. We were only able to get Happy in one more time, a tiny bit less panicked, but he would not jump in on his own. We tried to coax him with this favorite toys, and he was whining, and went as far as the second step, but that was it.

Denny swam relaxed, but also to the edge, instead of to the stairs, where I was calling him. I wasn't the one nudging him in, so we thought he would swim to me, which he did at first, but took a hard turn to the left before he was in reach. He also went in a second time, but after that he was soooooooooo mad at us. I had to use a handful of treats to get him to come near me again.

Well, so far so good. They are never out in the backyard by themselves anyway, but it would be nice, if they would enjoy jumping in and swimming on their own, like Biko did! She was always hard to get out again! Sam hated water and didn't want to swim at all.

Anyway, swimming lesson 2 will be held another time. So as not to leave you totally without knitting, look what pretty sock I'm working on right now! Had to rip back to the heel flap once, I made it too short, even though I thought I'd measured it right.

Cubist sock 1 in progress

It's a free pattern by Cookie A. called Cubist socks. The yarn is Wandering Cat Yarns, Alley Cat, colorway "Purple People Eater" (I love this name). It's hard to see, but it has many shades of purple, and I like that very much.

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17 comments:

Ann said...

I love your stories about and photos of your dogs ;-))
Nice sock-pattern and beautiful yarn.
There are so many beautiful yarns in US and Canada, but unfortunately we cannot buy them here in Europe because of the customs duty :-/

momsue84 said...

Love the pics of the pups! Milo sleeps on his back all the time. It's the craziest position I have ever seen. Beautiful socks. It's so hot here we have the house shut up, so I stay in and knit.

Virginia G said...

Sorry that the swimming lessons didn't go too well. Dogs are funny like that, aren't they? :)

The cubist socks look beautiful. I love that pattern.

2paw said...

Very pretty sock!
Oh those funny pups, they are so cute in the pool and fast asleep.
Vundy hated swimming and did high armed freestyle with her 'fingers' spread far apart!!! Labradors take to the water like ducks.

Michelle said...

We tried to teach Nimitz to swim in my inlaws pool. The only reason we got him in twice is because we put a life jacket on him and used the handle to get him in. He won't come near us when we're next to the pool now... At least with the jacket on he can swim around but he really hates it.

CelticCastOn said...

So funny, T had her first swimming lesson yesterday too. Today is day 2, I hope its warm cause I havee to get in too. Love the dogs all relaxed, having a snooze, so cute. Hopefully by the end of the month they will be swimming up a storm. Love that sock, you picked a good one.

Laurie said...

OMGOSH! Puppy belly alert!!! J-shaped puppies!!! LOL!! Thanks for sharing the wonderful pictures (thank heavens blogs don't have scratch-n-sniff!).

Love the sock - I'm going to have to make this one soon!

wanderrast said...

ein toller Name für so ein farbensprühendes Garn, nach dem Muster muss ich Ausschau halten.
liebe Grüße Elfi

Robin said...

Growing up, I had a shepherd who LOVED the water. Couldn't keep her out of the creek. Annie, who I placed in a lake-front home when I moved to Ohio -- I told she was scared of the water! Hope she's overcome that by now.

Frieda said...

I'd love to give those two a belly rub . They're just so cute !

Love your socks , the yarn looks beautiful , perfect to show off the pattern !

Susan said...

Oh, what a beautiful sock! That has now just jumped onto my 'must do' list.

I'm pretty sure that my dogs wouldn't be swimming enthusiasts either, with the possible exception of Bentley. I love the belly-up pictures of your tired guys!

Susan said...

Well, I just went to get the sock pattern and turns out that I had already downloaded and ignored it. I know why; yours is so much prettier than the one in the pattern! Great yarn choice! It made all the difference.

TracyKM said...

I like your sock much better than the one shown in the Knitting Daily email! Lovely colour! We're taking our puppy to grandma's pond this weekend to check out his swimming!

Mr Puffy's Knitting Blog: said...

What a gorgeous sock!!!! Love that pattern - she's a wonderful designer.

What a great idea to make sure they know how to get in and out of the pool safely! I was so scared when Simcha ran into the ocean after a seabird and for a moment there I thought I might have to swim out and rescue him - LOL The waves and tide can be tricky.

Wanderingcatstudio said...

I just noticed Denny has a white tip on his tail! So cute!
Socks look fantastic!

Rhonda said...

I told Valerie, that every skein that I wasn't happy with would be overdyed with purple, and be called "Purple People Eater" no 2 skeins alike.

Anonymous said...

I don't think my dogs would forgive me putting them in the pool either, LOL! I do think it's a good thing to do so they know how to get out if they ever fall in, though.

I love the Cubist socks. They are on my to-knit list as well.