Summer adventure

After a long week of anticipation, we took Indy out to Danger's family's lake today for his first swim. Things started out very well, as Indy got acquainted with Danger's brother's dog, Max.


At first, Indy seemed quite happy to splash around in the water with Max and to explore the shallows along the edge of the lake.



But then we tried to get him to do some actual swimming, and that didn't go quite as well.

Not at all tempted by the tennis ball
(Note firmly planted hind legs)


Shortly after this photo was taken, I went further out into the water and called Indy over to me. He actually swam about two feet all by himself, and then as I was praising him for his great courage, he clambered up onto me, using my body as high ground. There is, unfortunately, no photo of him standing on me, his back feet on my thigh and his front feet on my shoulder. If he could've stood on top of my head, I think he would have. I was laughing too hard to tell MB to snap a picture. I cannot imagine how ridiculous we looked -- black Lab trying to use human as stepstool to get out of the water.

After another fifteen minutes or so of coaxing and then bodily carrying Indy out into the water, I finally got him to swim one more time -- in a frantic scramble for the shore:

Note:  the water is not waist deep. It is mid-thigh deep and I am crouched down. My dog is a weenie.

Our grand day of swimming turned into a bit of a glorified wade, but it was still a really good day. We got to hang out with Danger and MacGyver and Max. We got to spend time outside on a gorgeous summer day, lolling about in the lake as a redtailed hawk soared overhead. And even though he didn't take to the water quite as enthusiastically as we'd hoped, Indy did give it a try, and that's enough for me.

Indy was so tuckered out by his big adventure that he slept in the car on the way home, and then took a three-hour nap.



Just because they're impossibly cute, here are some photos of Indy wearing his new backpack, which was on clearance at Petsmart:




Also impossibly cute, my parents' new kitten, Rusty: