doing_something

Doing anything else

 
G'day G'day Folks,
 
 We have a 12 week old labrador pup.  According to what we have been 
told, labradors imprint on swimming between the age of 8 weeks and 12
weeks.    A cousin of mine has a lab that hadn't been exposed to lakes
or the ocean till it was past 12 weeks.   When they threw a stick into
the water for it to fetch it walked in ... and in ... till it could
leap UP at the stick.   Rescuing a lab that doesn't swim tends to give
one an easy to recall profile in the pedigree doggy circles.   <grin> 
 
 Well our Gypsy can swim.  
In fact she has swum right across a local river.   
Considering that El Nino is bringing drought conditions here,  people
can easily wade the river.  The point is puppo had yet to swim for
pleasure.  This in a lab retriever is a contradiction in terms.  We
tried tossing in toys.   We tried having other dogs playing in the
water.  We tried having her playing in the shallows where she didn't
have to swim.   None of these logical strategies worked. 
 
This evening we went to a different beach, and to our surprise she
leap in and swam around and around obviously having fun.  
 
Now I wondered why that might be.  Maybe she was just ready.  Maybe
she was frustrated with the Summer heat and the cool water was
inviting.  Or, just maybe,  the old beach held anchors for the old
behaviours and the new beach was well ... new.  
 
 New beach, new behaviour.   
 
Sometimes its simple.