Taking our Lab Fishing
Last night Seth and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and go fishing at our favorite private pond. Somewhere along the line of making plans, we thought it might be fun to bring Annie, our black lab, along with us. I think both of us had visions in our head of Annie chilling out comfortably at our feet, quietly and calmly enjoying the ride, while we enjoyed some good times and big bass. What a lovely thought.
As we packed up the trailblazer with our gear, I grabbed a few old towels out of the closet. You know... just in case Annie decided to splash around a bit. Hah. No sooner had we let her out of the car at the pond than she was traipsing out into the water... then sitting in the water... then lying down in the water... then rolling around in the water... and mud.
"No biggie," I thought, she'll be dry by the time we leave, no harm in letting her play around a bit before we get in the boat. So I dried her off a bit so she wouldn't drip all over us in the boat, and we took off from the shore. We weren't 10 feet away from shore before she took a flying leap off the side of the boat and into the pond. She swam around a bit and then came back to the boat at which point Seth had to lift her out of the water and back into the boat. About a minute later, she was back in the water again - swimming out to a fallen branch which she attempted to retrieve only to find that it was solidly planted in the water. Once again, we had to call her back to the boat and Seth lifted her out of the water. At this point, I had to hold her down to keep her from jumping back in the water. It seemed that her hunting instincts and training had kicked in and she was completely unable to control herself. Every little splash or ripple, every log or stick poking up out of the water, all drover her crazy.
At this point, Seth and I were both pretty wet, Annie was crying to get back in the water and retrieve something... anything! We decided the only thing to do was take her back to shore, dry her off, and get her set up in the back of the truck to relax while we fished. A few hours and several big bass later, we came back to find her calmly waiting for our return. We let her run around (away from the water!) before we headed for home.
And today Annie got a bath.
As we packed up the trailblazer with our gear, I grabbed a few old towels out of the closet. You know... just in case Annie decided to splash around a bit. Hah. No sooner had we let her out of the car at the pond than she was traipsing out into the water... then sitting in the water... then lying down in the water... then rolling around in the water... and mud.
"No biggie," I thought, she'll be dry by the time we leave, no harm in letting her play around a bit before we get in the boat. So I dried her off a bit so she wouldn't drip all over us in the boat, and we took off from the shore. We weren't 10 feet away from shore before she took a flying leap off the side of the boat and into the pond. She swam around a bit and then came back to the boat at which point Seth had to lift her out of the water and back into the boat. About a minute later, she was back in the water again - swimming out to a fallen branch which she attempted to retrieve only to find that it was solidly planted in the water. Once again, we had to call her back to the boat and Seth lifted her out of the water. At this point, I had to hold her down to keep her from jumping back in the water. It seemed that her hunting instincts and training had kicked in and she was completely unable to control herself. Every little splash or ripple, every log or stick poking up out of the water, all drover her crazy.
At this point, Seth and I were both pretty wet, Annie was crying to get back in the water and retrieve something... anything! We decided the only thing to do was take her back to shore, dry her off, and get her set up in the back of the truck to relax while we fished. A few hours and several big bass later, we came back to find her calmly waiting for our return. We let her run around (away from the water!) before we headed for home.
And today Annie got a bath.
