David v. Goliath

Chloe is my little swimmer.  But as I have explained before, once she sees water all of her lovely doggie manners go entirely out the window.  There is no recall.  There is no sit or stay or leave it.  There is only Chloe racing up and down the shoreline or swimming back and forth in the deep water.  And as near as I can tell, there is no point at which she is tired of this and ready to go home.  Even though she gets to go with me to the water twice a week, and she is now becoming an older dog, I have never had her willingly leave the water with me.

As a matter of fact, on a couple of occasions I have had to wade waist deep into the water when I haven't been able to catch her on one of her shore runs.  And once she knows it is time to go, coming to shore on her own is completely out of the question.  And so, she wears a long line when we are near the water, so I don't actually have to catch her...if I can get the end of the 8ft line she trails, then I can tow her in to shore.  And by tow, I mean tow, she swims against me as hard as she can.  And once she hits shore, she continues to attempt to drag me back to the water until we are well away and there are at least two gates between her and the shoreline.

Generally, this set up works pretty well.  Yes, it is possible for her to catch the line on something out in the water.  It has happened.  But the way I look at it, wading in to unhook her every once in a while, is better than having to wade in every time we need to leave.  And really, this is only a major problem in the winter anyway, as I am usually in the water the rest of the year...it is only a matter of how deep I have to go to get her.

There is one other issue however, that is a little more difficult to control.  Occasionally, another dog will become fascinated with Chloe's line.  Some even manage to pick it up and swim along with her - as if they were taking her for a water walk.  Generally, this isn't much of a problem unless they are trying to control where she goes.  When THAT happens, she is pretty capable of letting them know exactly what she thinks of the situation.  She may be small, but she lacks no self-confidence.  She stands up to other dogs and lets them know how she feels. 

Only occasionally do I need to step in.  Monday was one of those days.  An enormous white Newfie just couldn't get the message straight, and Chloe just wasn't swimming out deep enough  to shake him.  He was walking while she was swimming.  All in all it wasn't a big deal, but it sure entertained everyone on shore to see this small dog taking on the giant.  Afraid I didn't get pics, as my hands were full dealing with it...but I am sure you can imagine.  On the long walk back to the car, the dogs made their peace.  Amazing how easily dogs do this.