Wordless Wednesday - In Too Deep

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Weekend Getaway

I just had a weekend getaway at my favorite spot in the world, Seven Oaks Ranch. I had some projects to work on there, and since my older daughter's school is not too far away, she came along to keep me company. And lucky Cabana got to come, too. Seven Oaks is a magnificent, dog-friendly vacation rental home, but the part I love best is the 350 private acres it sits upon. Each time I go there, the more familiar it becomes, and the more I enjoy it.

Usually on our hikes there, Cabana sticks to the path because there are so many tall, prickly weeds off-trail, which Miss Dainty doesn't care for. But this time, so close to the end of winter, the weeds haven't grown in just yet, making the grass much more tempting for Cabana to meander through.

Cabana's recall is okay--I'd give her a "B" if I were grading her. She usually comes when I call her, but sometimes, it takes her a while to finish whatever she's sniffing first. For example, I knew she wasn't going to come until she had finished sniffing this deer carcass. I had seen the same carcass when we were hiking there back in January, so I wasn't too worried about Cabana finding any tantalizing morsels. I figured anything even slightly tasty had been pinched long ago.

But I had also armed myself with a new bag of treats for the trip--Ziwi Peaks' Premium Venison and Mussel Treats. I happily and generously rewarded Cabana for checking in with me every so often and for staying in my line of sight. With so much open space, I enjoy giving Cabana the freedom to explore and run, while balancing that with her safety and my peace of mind.

The trail dips low through a grove of trees where there's a big pond. When we've been here in the summer, I haven't let Cabana swim. Too murky and nasty, plus the threat of poison oak. But this time, recent rains meant the pond was pretty clean, and it's too early in the year for poison oak.


(Video of Cabana skirting around the edge of the pond.)

Of course, Cabana doesn't swim. As a water dog, she gets a C-. She only skirts the edges and gallops through the deeper parts. That's okay, whatever makes her happy--that sure looks like a smile to me.

I wish my photos could convey the beauty and vastness of this place! Sure, places like Yosemite and the Grand Canyon and Maui might be more awe-inspiring, but they're also crawling with humanity--you have to share the beauty with hordes of people at every turn! At Seven Oaks, the only other human I've ever crossed paths with is my husband when he's out for his morning run. It is such a luxury to have this much nature all to myself.

Or almost to myself--sharing it with Cabana is even better than having it to myself. She waits for me at the top of each crest and then stays close for the downhill stretches, seeming to want to make sure I don't fall (which has happened on occasion). As a hiking companion, Cabana gets an "A++"!

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Sweet Puppy Pals

As times goes on, Cabana is getting finicky about which dogs she chooses to play with. When we first started going to dog parks, she eagerly played with anything that had four legs and fur. But now, she has learned that not all dogs are the same. Some play nicer, some bark a lot, some have more energy, some will chase her (what she always wants). There are a few dogs we cross paths with that she doesn't want anything to do with--that's a huge change for this formerly dog-distracted-to-the-max social butterfly!

Thankfully, we've also crossed paths with some great pups. Our new favorites are these fellow Labradors with compatible energy levels and play styles.

Meet 5-month old Duma. Duma loves to swim, chase balls, and cocks her head in the cutest way.

And 6-month old Latte. (Her ears just happened to be turned like this!) Latte has a vivacious personality and an energy level to match Cabana's perfectly.

Here's a 4-second video of the 3 puppies in the swimming hole (why so short, blame the videographer--me):

Duma glides through the water effortlessly, while Cabana won't swim--she just bounds through the water. Latte was not thrilled about getting in the water when I took this video a couple weeks ago, but since that time, she's learned to love swimming, too. Silly Cabana--when she wants to go to the other side of this swimming hole, she'll run all the way around the perimeter, rather than swimming across it!

Cabana may be a year older than these pups, but she doesn't know it. She's got enough puppy-ness in her to last a few more years.

Cabana tries to headbutt her way into the wrestling match.

The other hu-moms and I are grateful, because (say it all together now), "A tired puppy is a happy puppy."

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Murphy's Law

Today, a friend invited me, my daughters, and Cabana to her house for lunch. She has a lovely swimming pool in her backyard, so my daughters got to swim. But my friend asked that Cabana not be allowed to go in the pool (she didn't want dog hairs clogging her pool filter). Since Cabana doesn't like to swim anyway, I said that's totally fine, not a problem!

So of course, today, since Cabana wasn't ALLOWED in the pool, she decided she WANTED to go in!! I was flabbergasted. She kept putting her paws down onto the first step in the pool and would have gone in further, but I kept pulling her back out. We've been to this friend's house before, and Cabana didn't show ANY previous interest in being in their pool--so who on earth knows WHAT made her decide that now she wants to be a "real Labrador" and go for a swim.

But my friend's garden is beautiful, so I took a few pretty pics. Too bad I couldn't take any action shots of Cabana in the pool (or even BY the pool; I just didn't think of it at the time, don't you hate it when that happens?).

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Tuesday Topics 8 - Sink or Swim?

The temperature has been soaring into the mid-90s these past few days, so yesterday, I took Cabana for her first swim in my bosses' pool. The water temp was a balmy 80 degrees, not even too cold for my wimpy constitution.

For some reason, I thought Cabana would be channeling Michael Phelps. She had fallen into our tiny koi pond when she was about 10 weeks old, and even though the pond is about the size of wheelbarrow, I could tell from the few seconds that Cabana was in the water that she knew how to swim.

But that's the one and only time Cabana has been fully immersed in water. We bathe her in our kitchen sink so that we can take advantage of the water sprayer, and even though the sink is fairly large, the water isn't even up to her knobby knees.

So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that Cabana had her trepidations. Going with my puppy group leader's advice, I took it slow. I put her on the first step, then the second step, and she seemed to like the water. But when I carried her out into the middle of the pool, I could feel her little heart beating a nervous pitter-pat. So I held onto her for quite a while and carried her around and around while talking reassuringly. Then, I carefully let her go....

Cabana can definitely swim--but she doggy paddled straight for the side of the pool, where she hung on for dear life. I took her over to the steps so she could easily exit the water. I tried the same procedure about 3 more times, and each time, she made a mad splashing dash for terra firma.

I tried enticing her into the water with toys. I made my kids jump into the pool as an example. I even tried coaxing her with treats. But Cabana just preferred sniffing around the yard to swimming in the pool. Disappointing!

So, are your dogs swimmers? Did they take to it easily or were they like fish out of water? It looks like we've got a long hot summer just around the corner--and I'd love to be able to enjoy the coolness of the pool with Cabana!

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