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Mr W had running practice yesterday, and we were at a nice big park in town. It's been really nice to visit different parks around town as part of his practice. Yesterday at dinner, he said, in the manner I imagine most kids' minds work, "So, why aren't you going to Spin class on Mondays anymore?" I said, "Because I have to take a certain boy to practice on Mondays." "Oh". But it's over soon, and he's liked it, so I don't mind.

He wanted to take the dog again, while he was running, but they weren't getting started for a few minutes, so I took Sally the dog over to the dog park part of the park. This particular dog park has a pond. Did I mention that my dog is half water dog and half water dog? She's a Labradoodle, a half Lab-half Poodle mix. Puddles, cups of water, damp rags, you cannot keep my dog away from water; don't even try.

The protocol involves excited bouncing up and down on her front paws, followed by a beeline to the edge, trotting in, and then laying down in the water. Then she gets up, gets out and repeats. Yesterday, I had her squeaky orange tennis ball, so we played fetch in the pond for a little while. I made a short throw once and she overshot where the ball was. She spent a minute testing and rejecting the other tennis balls floating on the water (she's pretty particular about her orange squeaky tennis balls). Then she puts her entire head under water. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand, and up. I wonder what she's doing until I realize she's looking for the ball. How's that for dedication?

I think it's so interesting how no one taught her to do that. I don't know if that's Lab or Poodle or some hybrid trait in her, but it was neat to watch. She never sputtered, or coughed. I did eventually convince her that the ball was closer to me, and she found it, but it was cool to watch the processes, and the other dog owners got a kick out her too. It makes me wonder about things we humans do, just because that's who and how we are.

Image from here.