We didn’t get any takers for our contest to guess which dog would be next, so how many of you guessed Bode? Alex? I swear, just when we thought the entire day had gone by without a single dog in the pool, our hopes were splashed [instead of dashed] by yet another dog/pool incident. Rick had just fed the dogs their evening meal and let them outside. I was in the office and heard them barking which is isn’t quite normal at this time of day. I went into the kitchen and the pitch of their barking changed. Not the dogs’ normal barking. We looked at each other and we both thought POOL! Rick looked out the kitchen window and said DOG IN POOL! We rushed outside to see that the solar blanket was a total mess and pulled halfway up the length of the pool. There was Bode, treading water frantically in the deep end right up next to the edge. He looked ready to go under, so I didn’t get the camera and Rick hurried over to him to lift him out. Rick said his eyes were as big as saucers. If we hadn’t thought we was in jeopardy of going under, Rick would have led him by the collar to a good “getting out” place, but it wasn’t obvious that he was okay with the whole thing. Poor Jo-Jos!

It was only when I was toweling Bode off that we realized that Alex was ALSO soaking wet up to his belly. Hmm…something fishy here. I wish we knew what had happened since we think they both ended up on the solar blanket somehow and Alex just managed to get off before the blanket gave way. I guess they need constant supervision until they all go in the drink at least once. I know you must be getting tired of hearing about the dogs vs the pool, and frankly we are getting a bit weary with worry as well. But, hey, I think we are making some kind of progress since we haven’t seen the same dog end up in the pool for the second time! Err…uhm…maybe I shouldn’t say that just yet as I may be tempting fate. Or the Dog Water Gods. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.

Today we went for our first swim. It’s still cold [the water temp is now 64 degrees] and the wind was still blowing today, but we just couldn’t stand it any longer. So, we took the plunge into the icy depths of the pool. We both waded around in the shallow end fist where it’s only about 3.5 feet deep to get used to the cold. Rick submerged his body first and I followed within a few minutes. The dogs went wild, running back and forth, barking furiously, and they all seemed really concerned. Hailey was the funniest and we were sure she was going to jump in with us. But alas, we had no joiners in the pool. Every lap that we did Hailey was always waiting at the end of the pool and gave us nose licks, as if to say, are you guys okay in there?  what are you doing?  Too funny. Here is Rick trying to entice her into the pool. It didn’t work.

We swam for awhile, but WHEW, I didn’t realize how out of shape I was until I started swimming laps. That’s a lot of work! I’m just glad to know I can still swim since it’s been many years! You’ll be glad to know I did end up wearing one of my L. L. Bean swimsuits instead of going naked. Too cold. We had visions of late-night skinny dipping going through our heads about a month ago. I think we’ve put those plans on hold for awhile. Maybe in August.

Yep, folks, you guessed correctly. Yet another dog in the pool today! This time Rick watched in happen in real time. Daisy came running out of nowhere across the deck by the pool and right smack dab over the solar blanket. She reached the middle before she sank into the blanket. Unlike Bart, she was not staying put for nothing or nobody. She wanted off that thing, NOW. I heard the ruckus, grabbed my camera [which I have begun to leave at the ready and close at hand these days] and headed outside. I had to be quick because she was coming off that thing pretty darn fast. Once she reached the edge she showed perfect swimming form like she’s been doing it her whole life. A perfect dog paddle! Smart girl that she is, she headed straight for the steps! Following is a pictorial of her journey and you can actually see the path she took through the solar blanket.

Alex, at the steps, seems to be cheering her on. Maybe we should start a contest to see who guesses correctly which dog is next to try out the pool. Any guesses? Those left are Alex, Hailey, Bode or Milli. My bet’s on Hailey!
[P.S. We call Daisy “Daisy-Do” or just “Do” most of the time when she’s being cute or good. If not, then she’s sometimes Daisy-Don’t. Now she’s earned the new name of Dip-ity-Do.]

In my hands, the skimmer moves through the water like an open-mouthed whale greedy for food. We take in leaves, some Daddy-Long-Legs, a caterpillar, water-skimmers [water spiders] that are still skimming the surface as they enter the net, some dog hair leftover from the dogs’ water antics of yesterday and today, several seed pods off the trees and little bits of assorted plant material. It’s a soothing process and one chore that is easily borne. The morning is cool and the trees are rustling in the brisk breeze. Life is good, but the water is still too cold for a morning dip even if Sailor didn’t think so. Maybe later…

This is getting a bit silly. Now Sailor has ended up in the pool. Of all dogs, this is the one that NEVER even gets his feet wet if he can help it. I got up this morning and let the dogs out, not quite fully awake myself. They hadn’t even been out for five minutes and I heard them barking, which in itself is nothing out of the ordinary, but it was different somehow. Usually they all end up back on the deck barking. This barking was coming from further away. I looked out and saw them clustered around the pool. OH NO, I thought. Now what? I peeked over the railing and the sea of dogs around the pool parted to reveal a dog in the pool at the shallow end. I could see a head and front paws clinging to the side. I yelled for Rick, who was still in bed, There’s a dog in the pool! At this point I didn’t know if I was going to need help or not.

I started down the steps very carefully since they were wet and a little slippery with last night’s rain, Who was it? I quickly did a name check of the dogs I could see and decided it was Sailor. He was looking pretty panicked and COLD, so unlike Bart’s situation, I felt he needed immediate rescuing rather than running for the camera. He HATES the water!! How did this happen? I ran over to the edge of the pool and pulled on his collar to lift him out. He was actually standing on the bottom with his front paws on the edge and he only needed a little boost from me to scramble on up and over. He came out with water running in streams off his body. A couple of rigorous shakes and he was looking a bit better. By this time Rick had joined me, but as it turned out we hadn’t needed any help. Back in the house Rick toweled the poor dog as dry as he could. He really smells chlorinated, hence the title. PHEW!

I don’t know how it happened. My guess is they were being their usual idiot morning selves and play fighting and got too close to the edge of the pool, and PLUNK!, Sailor landed in the drink. I hope they figure out this pool stuff pretty soon.