Monday, March 31, 2014

Mischief Monday: Dive Right In!

Don't you hate it when you miss something super exciting because you just were not present for the big event? It happened to me on Saturday.

The weather was less than enticing: windy, rainy, chilly, and just plain yuck-y. When Ted asked if I wanted to walk Toby my answer, believe it or not, was that I'd rather go work out in a nice warm dance studio. Which I did. Result? I missed Toby's First-Ever, Never-Say-Never, and Probably-One-And-Only Swim!


This is as far as I go.

Retrievers just adore the water, right? Wrong, in Toby's case. But the old instinct for grabbing ducks and geese is there. When he sees them or hears them quacking he stands stock still and whines, "Lemme at 'em!" If his behavior with his Quackers toys is any indication, those ducks are lucky he's leashed.


Can I finish gutting him now?

Ted took Toby to the arboretum for his walk. It's great exercise because no one is there, especially if the weather's bad. Hidden in the midst of a crazy urban business center, the only wildlife is songbirds and squirrels.  The tree rats run a few inches to the nearest tree trunk (it's the arboretum after all),  so Toby can run off-leash. A creek called Starr Run bisects the arboretum and acts as a runoff filter and drainage for the surrounding neighborhoods. 



So on Saturday Ted is ambling along behind Toby when he spots ducks in the creek, simultaneously realizing that Toby sees them too. From his frozen alert stance Toby throws caution to the wind. That dog is fast when he wants to be. The mallards lift off the water, flying above the creek. Ted is pounding along the trail calling ineffectually to an orange blur hidden by a screen of splashing shallow water.

My previous personal best -  wading.

The water becomes deeper, and the ducks cross to the other bank, quacking their disgust. Without a second thought Toby dives right in and actually swims to the other side to keep up the chase. 

And once the ducks had escaped, Toby sat on the creek bank looking plaintively at Ted. No amount of coaxing would make him swim back. Of the two, Ted had to be the real retriever. 

If I had a time machine, I'd go back to Saturday morning. 
With a camera.


Snoopy's Dog Blog

20 comments:

  1. Oh no...I cannot believe you missed that! What dumb luck. I would've loved to see photos not just of retriever Toby but of retriever Ted too! BOL
    Oz

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  2. BOL BOL Ted had to be the real retriever. That made us chuckle. Oh the temptation must have been too much. Loved that story. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  3. Hehehe, are you saying Ted had to swim for the dog? OMG I love it.

    Sampson is a golden/lab mix and while he doesn't mind wading in water, swimming is not his gig. Neither is retrieving. Go figure.

    Delilah is all lab, she sees water and loses her mind. She absolutely HAS to go in it and whoa to you if you try to keep her from it, it means you're swimming too.

    I wonder if this venture will give him confidence to swim again? Can't wait to find out!

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  4. Too funny! I've heard of more than one retriever in the past without much interest in water - at least now you know there's something that could motivate him!

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  5. oh my gosh that's hilarious!!!! I would give anything to have a picture of Dad swimming to get Toby back! hahahaha

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  6. Oh no! You'll just have to keep taking Toby to the arboretum and hope he does it again! Or maybe you can hang a duck toy on a stick and wave it over the water to entice him.

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  7. aww shame you missed it but thats funny that Toby wouldn't swim back,xx Speedy

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  8. Isn't that always the way? But who can blame you on passing on going out in that dreary weather? It's funny what dogs sometimes do when they're not really thinking about it!
    I am anxious to see if our lab mix puppy is going to like swimming or not. We won't know for a while though since we're still covered in white here!

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  9. Oh man! Don't you hate that?! Maybe he will do it again one day. :-) New follower here from the Monday Mischief Pet Blog Hop. Nice to meet you! Hope you will come by and see us!

    http://walkswithrama.com/
    http://corsointhekitchen.com/

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  10. Oh no how awful you missed such a big moment! Of all of our dogs only one, Bob, the very one who would surely sink like a stone will approach water. He likes wading, well supervised, of course
    retro rover

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  11. Sounds like quite an adventure! Too bad you missed it. I'm sure there will be many more adventures for you to take part in :)

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  12. OMD, that is just too funny. too bad you missed the whole thing! i can just see toby sitting there waiting for dad to rescue him. BOL.
    wags, bailey unleashed

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  13. LOL! Jeffie is the same way and we've had to rescue him, too. Silly boys :-)

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  14. BRAVO TOBY KEEP THE TWO LEGGERS GUESSING!!!
    HUGS MADI YOUR BFFF

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  15. Don't you hate when you miss the adventures? Sam hated water too, but I always surprised us when there was a lake or stream - he was right in there.

    Monty and Harlow

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  16. Sorry that you missed the adventure. I'm sure Toby was wondering how his human got on the wrong side of the pond!

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  17. Oh no, that is too funny. Sounds like Toby got so intent on catching the ducks we didn't realize he was swimming. Sorry you missed it but thanks for sharing.

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  18. Awesome story!!!! Ted the Retriever! We had a yellow lab who didn't like to swim, just like Toby. I think Ted needs to take a duck with him next time to entice Toby back!

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  19. Oh good, you didn't dive directly in! I was worried that you'd be drenched in swamp!!

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