Water Dog

I’ve heard the term “water dog” for as long as I can remember, having been labeled as one myself – back when I was a kid who could not be kept out of the lake. “You’re just a little water dog,” the grown-ups would croon. “Ohhh…you cute little water dog, you.” Barf.

But I guess if we want to be technical (do we?), a true water dog is a canine bred to retrieve waterfowl from rivers or lakes, thus allowing his/her master-hunter to be serviced with still-warm, freshly-killed ducks or geese (or whatever other birds live in water environments) while staying high and dry.

However, Fritz jr’s golden retriever named Riley seems to be dealing with a severe retrieval addiction, and can’t wait for hunting season, or even anything that looks remotely like a bird. Instead, he launches himself off the pier like a torpedo toward whatever we throw, usually a tennis ball, with his whole body extended sort of like an amateurish, but daredevil, diver. He literally does classic belly-smacks and sinks out of sight momentarily, only to bob to the surface, paddling madly. He seems unafraid of water depth OR extended distances to or from the object, and is driven like a madman (er, mad dog – Old Yeller? naaaaah...) to repeat the drill immediately AND repeatedly.

Sometimes Riley is put to the extreme test. His master throws a weighted disc (bright-colored plastic circle intended to teach kids to dive underwater) instead of something that floats. Then I feel all smushy and compassionate, and so sorry for him, when he gets this anxious and worried look on his face. He keeps turning this way and that in the water while peering into the depths with his big brown eyes – his head cocked as if in prayer with his muzzle just barely above the surface of the water. He refuses to stop looking for the sunken treasure until we distract him, or in a few cases, he’s been able to grab it from shallow water himself – wooop-wooop, way to go, Riley!

I’m including a couple of pictures here – one of The Soggy Dog waiting patiently with the tennis ball in his mouth, the other of The Very Soggy Dog climbing out of the lake via the swimming ladder. Yes, he taught himself how to use that slippery aluminum ladder at the end of the pier this weekend. I’m sure he thinks he’s human. But alas, we all know he’s just a dog – a very talented, playful, acrobatic, and gutsy WATER DOG.