Saturday, August 30, 2008

Emma learns to swim - by accident!

We took Emma kayaking on Hoover Reservoir, putting in at the boat launch at Oxbow. Last weekend she was very good about sitting in my lap and just taking in the sights and smells of the lake. This evening she wanted to touch the water and was really restless. I finally stopped paddling to see what she would do. She tried to lean over the side, but wouldn't jump in so I dangled her feet in the water while holding onto the handle of her harness. Then she crawled out onto the bow and walked around a bit until she slipped off. What a splashy surprise. She came up sputtering a bit. It was a good thing she was hooked into me by leash. I was able to reel her back to the kayak and scoop her back into my lap.







Of course, you know what happens when a dog is wet. I got several showers.










Emma ended up going into the lake three times. The first couple of times she seemed a bit scared. The last time she was pretty calm and just swam back to where I could pick her up and put her back in the boat. We know her PFD works, though. That last time she ended up doing a back flip and was completely submerged. She popped right back to the surface like a cork bobbing in the water.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Emma's first kayaking experience!




Look! Mom got a new kayak and she took me out with her to see how I would like it.

I have my very own PFD (personal floatation device), too! Mom hooked a leash to my PFD and attached it to herself so I couldn't get lost if I jumped overboard.








I was really interested in everything! I sat in Mom's lap, but moved from side to side to see everything there was to see. I wanted to catch the birds that were out on the water. We saw ducks, gulls, and cormorants on the water and an osprey, kingfisher, and shorebirds.







Mom told me to sit still and I did, but when I saw the package of Doritos on the water, I just about made it overboard. I got dribbled on from the water dripping off the paddles, but otherwise I stayed dry. What a fun way to spend an evening!