The Honorable Grand Peanut went swimming over the weekend for the first time since his leg was broken (which was over a year ago!). Because he’s so large, most of the water that’s available around here (ditches) aren’t deep enough for him to not touch bottom. He loves the water and gets into it as much and as often as he can. He even tolerates the bath. He did fall into the ditch that runs through the property twice as a small puppy, once I was able to scoop him up and the other he had to scrabble out himself, and I think that traumatized him to actually swimming. For months afterward he would bark at the water. Then I had the bright idea to click and treat every time he went into the water without barking. He loves to dig in the water bowl, bucket, pan, and he stands in the small water pool that we have in the yard. He also likes to get into the small pond at my mom’s house.

Going to the lake was fun for both of us. He went into the water right away, but wouldn’t get deep enough to actually swim. I coaxed him in several times, using the long line, and treated him (lamb jerky is his new favorite) each time to let him know that water was a good thing. He did end up swimming a couple of times, and the more we do it, I think he’ll get used to it, and hopefully even learn to love it. I own a whitewater raft setup and want him to go on trips with me.

He also was really good around the kids that were at the lake. There was a gaggle of kids on a camp outing wading, swimming, kayaking, etc. The Grand Peanut went up to almost every one of them, sniffed, then moved on. If there was petting offered, then he stayed a bit longer, but there was no jumping and no crying. The camp counselors congratulated me on his great behavior. So all my hard work creating a polite dog is paying off!

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