I've spent the last several weeks teaching my puppies how to swim.  I've been taking them to the boat dock at a nearby lake.  Most people don't know that all dogs don't know how to swim... as a matter of fact, most of them don't, and if you don't introduce them to the water properly, they'll be afraid of it.  There are also some breeds that just can't swim.

So after several weeks, my girls have started swimming like fish.  My little retriever, Neesa,  has had her instincts kick in and she doesn't want to swim unless she has something to swim after... she's all about a purpose.  My border/husky mix, Maia, is like a little ballerina in the water.  She's learned how to make the water work for her and she just kind of floats/half swims around in circles... just casually enjoying the environment.   Neesa tries to pounce on her in the water, and Maia just bobs right back up like a duck.

This last weekend I took them to an off-leash dog park that has a swimming lake.  It was their first time swimming off-leash.  After a couple hours you would think they would be tired, but on the long trek back to the car they were acting crazy and running everywhere.  It was like the water energized them instead, but once we got in the car and started moving, they were just like toddlers... they knocked out all the way home.

They were content and calm all that evening and the entire next day.
 

 Here are the cast of characters for most all future blogs:

I currently own 3 dogs + 1 kitten.  This is definitely a lesson in patience, but pays out exponentially in love and laughs.  Here's the breakdown for future reference:

 Zephyr:
My 13-year-old border collie/chow mix.  She is MY first dog.  I got her when she was a wee little puppy 13 years ago from a local high-kill shelter.  She came with a pandora's box of germs and parasites that required quite a bit of $$ to get her all better.  This little furball would prove over the next 2-3 years to be quite a handful.  She's a very confident and willful little beasty, but she has turned out to be my heart and soul.  She has taught me more than any university could ever even attempt to teach me.  Her hips are now giving her trouble, and her eyes are getting slightly milky with the beginnings of cataracts, but the rest of her is sharp as ever.  She's very dignified, gentle, and loves everyone.  I'm hoping for several more years with this beautiful and wise lady.

Neesa:
Neesa is my 9-month-old flat coated retriever mix.  I got her from the same high-kill shelter that I got my old girl from.  Luckily she only had a respiratory infection when I got her.  She's about half the size of a flat coated retriever, and has the marking of a rott or a dobey.  She's my class clown.  She's a goofy little dog that will do just about anything for attention.  Her bestest bud is an atlas terrier (strain of jack russell) named Vario.  Her second bestest bud is my the third one in my pack.  She never seems to tire of playing with one or the other (or both) of these guys, but gets very vocal if they start playing together and leave her out.  I call her "Needy Neesa" because she has to constantly have someone, or somethings attention.

Maia:
Maia is my 5 1/2-month-old border collie/husky mix.  She came from Heart of America Humane Society's foster program.  She was born to a border collie mix that was in Mo-Kan Border Collie rescue, but because she didn't look enough like a border collie (as well as several of her litter mates) she got handed over to HAHS.  Her foster mother was so taken with her that she had turned town MANY other people that had wanted to adopt Maia... lucky for me.  She wanted to keep her for herself, but already had four dogs of her own.  I have to thank Zephyr for this one.  Once she saw how healthy and happy Zephyr is, she couldn't turn me down.... but she sure wanted to.  Maia is my laid back puppy.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  Because she's so big (35 lbs at 5 months), she could do a lot of damage is she were hyper or prone to boredom.  That's the blessing... the curse is she's not really too motivated to learn proper puppy manners.  To top it off, she's very sensitive.  Any negative energy of any kind and she just wants to remove herself from the area... immediately.

Whisper:
Whisper is my 5-month-old russian blue/grey tabby kitten.  She came from a wonderful shelter in Mission Kansas called Pet Connection.  She's a beautiful little girl that I think is becoming very confused being raised around all these dogs.  When I first brought her home, the puppies were crazy to check her out... she was having none of it.  Now, a month later, she thinks she's one of them... except when they try to play with her by bopping her or pinning her down.  The puppies don't know their own strength.  Whisper will play some great roles in future blogs about these puppies.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

I have to bring up these two gentlemen because they are part of "the gang" and hang out with my girls ALL THE TIME.  So they will be playing roles in many future blogs also.

Vario:
Vario is a 1-year-old atlas terrier mentioned earlier.  He came from the same shelter as Whisper.  This little spitfire... he's a handful.  I'm buying him a dog tag this weekend that says "Devil Dog".  He's not really, but sometimes....  Actually, he's a very brilliant and intuitive bundle of energy.  He's got some incredible potential.  He's only been in his forever home for about 4 1/2 months and has made amazing strides.

Conner:
Conner is approximately 1 1/2-years-old.  He's a cardigan corgi/giant german spitz mix.  He's a very beautiful little boy.  He came from the same high-kill shelter as Zephyr and Neesa.  He also came with a plethora of germs and parasites, but sadly, this is common from those kinds of shelters.  This is probably the most adaptable dog I've ever met.  He'd be a great dog for any home situation... whether it be an elderly person, or a family with small children.  He's amazingly even-tempered, but not all that motivated to learn basic doggy manners (sit, stay, come...).