Pool Fun

We also enjoyed the pool during our weekend at the farm. If you follow my sister's blog or are on Facebook, you may have seen this clip already. It is too funny not to share with the rest of you though. This is Denise's greyhound, Peanut. Peanut is very easy going as you can see.

This was the first time I have been able to swim with Reagan and Riley. I paid the price though. :-) I had lots of scrapes and bruises from the dog paddling.

I was pleased by their willingness to swim though.

Fishies Out Of Water

Reagan is finally able to swim again. We had to wait for the spay incision to heal. Swimming is such a good way to tire Reagan out while her dislocated toe continues to heal. And look who also came.

The last couple of times, 30 minutes has been too long of a swim session for Reagan. Its clear that she has had enough after a period of time. So I brought Katie too!

I swam Reagan first for good reason. I knew she probably would not sit still while Katie swam had Katie gone first. The plan worked perfectly and Reagan was much better than I expected.

Reagan waited very patiently and enjoyed baking in the sun while Katie had her turn. She never once moved.

Mission accomplished! Two tired hounds!

Tails From The Deep

The girls all had swimming again this weekend. We had to torture Katie with a van ride. The swimming is just so good for her. Its such a safe way to tire her out without the risk of injury.
The weather was perfect.... clear and 70 degrees F. Eva had removed the plastic bubble that surrounds the heated pool in winter. Great for swimming and picture taking (thanks, Stephen).

Both Reagan and Riley swim with a lot of force. It reminds me of Travis. He would swim so hard to get to his bumper as fast as he could. I don't think Reagan and Riley realize that they can relax and swim.

Sometimes Reagan just can't look :-). So dramatic!

Both are rough with my fingers. I have to be careful not to lose any.

Swimming is hard work.... taking a break with Eva.

All in all, I'm very pleased with how well all of the girls are swimming.

Tadpoles

The last three times Katie has gone to swimming rehab, I have also had Riley and Reagan swim. Katie swims for 30 minutes and the youngsters each swim for 15 minutes.


I would love to have another greyhound that loves swimming as much as Travis did. It would be so cool to have another one that would retrieve and dock jump, but I will settle for just swimming. Travis was probably far too special to have a repeat.

Katie has gotten very comfortable with swimming as you can see below. At times, it appears that Katie avoids getting within Eva's reach. She will turn and swim away from Eva who forces her to rest periodically. I would love for Riley and Reagan to be as comfortable.

Last summer, we tried to teach Reagan to swim with no success. She did not enjoy it at all. She has not enjoyed the swimming sessions either and at times appears to be clinging to Eva for dear life.

I figured that forcing Reagan to swim would either teach her that swimming is fun or scar her for life. Sessions 1 and 2, I would have told you we were scarring her for life.

Session 3 had a major break through. She started out as expected. Clinging to Eva or trying to get out of the pool when released. However, she started to swim along the side of the pool for treats. Even turning herself around like Katie does to follow me. I could not have been more pleased. It was a huge turning point.

Riley started out shell shocked as well. During Session 1, she would only accept salmon burger bites and refused all other treats. During the second Session, Riley had a little break through and started to swim for treats rather than trying to climb out of the pool. She did even better the third time.

I am really hoping that this summer, Riley and Reagan will swim along the dock like Katie does. Its such great exercise especially when it is hot.

Swimming Lessons

We took the greyhounds to the lake yesterday to swim. So far, Reagan does not show the natural swimming ability that Travis does. Or maybe she is just a little more grounded than he is. I remember when I was starting to throw the bumper in the lake just far enough to see if Travis would swim. He would sometimes go under water and he swam very awkwardly. Not much has changed, but at least now I know he can old his breath and he will surface soon. Occasionally there would be a tense moment for the humans on the shore, but Travis was never scared or deterred. He was always game. Reagan seems to prefer the feel of land under her feet.

Katie has always enjoyed cooling off in the water, but doesn't have any desire to swim for a toy. However, Katie would sell her soul for a cookie and she would swim to the far side of the world for one too. I like to swim her along the side the dock..... feeding her treats, of course. I thought that Reagan might follow suit with Katie leading the way, but she was not willing to go any deeper than chest level. That's ok, I have another idea to try. She doesn't have to be a dock jumper like Travis, but I would love for her to swim along the dock like Katie does.

Reagan's First Perry

Reagan completed her first of hopefully many pilgrimages to Perry, GA. In the future, I hope that she will be a participant in the obedience and/or agility competitions, but for now she had to settle for being a competitor in training, shopping buddy, and cheerleader for Travis. She did get some new smelly fish treats, 2 bully sticks, and a new pink collar. I don't usually do pink, but she is the baby girl, so I made an exception.

Reagan handled most everything like a champ. She was comfortable and attentive to me down by the agility rings and surrounded by strange dogs and people. At one point an Australian shephard tried to jump through the ring gating and brought down an entire section that literally landed a foot from Reagan. To my relief, Reagan could have cared less. A fear of ring gating could put a big delay on the success of an agility and/or obedience career. More and more, Reagan ignored the barking dogs that try to launch an attack from inside their crates as you pass them in the halls. On Sunday, it was particularly windy and the vendor signs, merchandise, and canvas walls were flapping with fury. She handled that very well and we hurried on out of there before something bad could happen to scar an impressionable mind. She was a good girl at the campsite. A crate contained her quite nicely. She still thinks she should have the freedoms that the mature Bachelor hounds enjoy, but she has a lot of a crating hours to go before she earns those priviledges. I try to explain to her that the other hounds have long since put in their hours, are compliant, willingly crate, and do so without complaint......... but she continues to argue her losing point. She minded her P's and Poo's. On Friday, she pottied at about 5:30 PM and then did not go again until about 12 hours later the next morning. To her credit, she held it until the morning potty walk. After that, she was quick to take care of her business each time.

Saving the best for last, Reagan's big weekend brag is that she took after her brother, Travis, in the lake. We put her on a 15 foot long line and just was going crazy watching Travis swim out and retrieve his bumper. Reagan jumped and splashed in the water. She tried to swim out after him. We then gave her the opportunity to retrieve the bumper from the shallows and she did several times. It was very cute.