Swimming Lessons

Izzo and her Helping Paws classmates took advantage of the fact that their instructor was off last week and no class was held. They decided to have a puppy party instead of schoolwork!!

And what a blast they had. Hosted by Rugby and Cathy, we headed over to Hudson, Wisconsin. A big fenced yard and eight eager Golden Retriever puppies set the tone for the night. They had a blast, running, playing, wrestling and tumbling. There was Rugby, Izzo, Benny, Dempsey, Angel, Becca, Boston and Sawyer.

That's Izzo on the left, taking advantage of the other dogs wrestling to get a turn with the tug of rope toy.

As if that weren’t enough fun, we then headed down to the St. Croix River. Most of the puppies had been in the water, but not really enough water to actually swim in. Izzo had been in a lake over the 4th of July but there were too many people and kids and noise that she didn’t really realize what a dog could actually DO in water….

The same thing happened at the river. She was a little uncertain at first and got a bit concerned when we walked out to the point where the water was getting up around her nose. But then we were joined by a couple other “big dogs” Belle and Cody. They went bounding past Izzo out to deeper water to retrieve a ball.

Izzo, not wanting to miss a chance to play with the big dogs, raced out after them. And without really realizing what she was doing, the natural instinct kicked in and she was swimming! It was so fun to watch her discover this new skill. Once she realized what she was capable of, there was no stopping her. She was happy to splash and swim and chase down the balls and toys.

Of course the aftermath of swimming in the river means a wet, sandy, dirty, smelly dog. I decided that the next day would be a good time to take Izzo out for her first professional dog bath. She did just fine at the groomer’s and is smelling much better these days!



Izzo really misses Miles – who has now moved back to college with Jake. We walk in the front door and the first thing she does is turn to the right to go into the family room where Jake and Miles were normally sitting watching TV. Now it is empty and quiet. She’s a bit sad, but also enjoying the fact that she is now the sole “kid” in the house and the beneficiary of more of my attention.

Sometimes a little peace and quiet is a good thing!
Cheers!