Doggie-Paddle

It's a common misconception that swimming comes second-nature to a dog. At least not to Stella the puppa. Let me re-phrase that--- Stella can swim, but Stella is a bit cautious about swimming.

Mom and I took Stella to her first swimming lesson on Sunday afternoon. Our across-the-street neighbors, are an older couple with four children: two are grown and have their own families and the other two are two Labrador Retrievers, Peekaboo and Penny. The couple purchased the house primarily for the pool. They needed somewhere to allow their two dogs to swim in the summertime. These dogs will swim for hours in the pool, jumping off the diving board, scavenging for toys at the bottom of the pool, and going down the pool slide.

Mr. Mike invited Stella over to swim with the dogs on Sunday afternoon. Stella loved this idea and jumped at the chance to frolick around with some canine companions. Peekaboo and Penny are older dogs and weren't as amused by Stella's antics.


After Stella initially realized she was physically able to swim, she took off in a mad tear around the pool area, running as fast as she could. She was so excited that she took a flying leap into the pool. I think she must have been under the impression that the water in the shallow end was as deep as it is on the pool steps...needless to say, she sank like a brick, but popped up just as quickly, scrambling to the steps to get out. From this point forward, she was a bit more cautious, but she seemed to really like the water. I think it's only a matter of time until she becomes a regular water baby!

After pool-time, Stella had a bath...