Yorkies Swim?

Tonight we are going to lighten up, we survived "Hump Day" and some of us are now looking forward to the weekend. As you may know, we have two Yorkies (actually one Yorkie and one pseudo-Yorkie) that are with us the majority of the time. Since we are currently in Arizona, it is extremely hot and as a result, we spend time in the pool. The problem with Arizona and pools this time of year though is that because it is so hot and the sun shines most of the time, the water in the pools get hot. Our pool water temperature is in the upper 80's, so it is like swimming in a bathtub.

When we first got Hawg, we wanted to be sure he was safe around the pool so we put him in it. To our surprise, that little guy sank like a rock. He had no idea how to swim. I didn't think that was normal for a dog, but we are talking Yorkie here... Anyway, the first summer we had Hawg, we made an effort to teach him to swim. I didn't want him falling in the pool and immediately sinking to the bottom. Now teaching a dog how to swim is an interesting situation, but it is possible.

What has happened though, is that our Yorkie has turned into a water dog. We can't go into the pool without him begging to go in also. We used to leave him and Gypsy in the house when we went swimming so that we didn't have to worry about them. Now, however, we can't even grab a towel for the pool before Hawg starts causing a ruckus because he wants to come out and play in the pool too. One day last year I had been surprised by Hawg. When I was consulting with the pool guy, Hawg had been running around the pool just for fun. Then, he stopped at the steps and literally leaped into the pool. All four of his feet were splayed out and he did a belly flop into the pool. Both the pool guy and I just stared at his antics. After he hit the water, he turned around, swam back to the step, got out, shook and then started running around again. I couldn't stop laughing.

After that episode, I started bringing my kick board out to the pool. The minute I got in the pool with the kick board, Hawg had to jump in and get on the kick board. He just loves getting on the board and being pushed around the pool. It is really funny to watch. Now, if I want to go in the pool, I must take the kick board out and let Hawg jump on so he too can play in the pool

Today in my rush to swim, I did not put the kick board in the pool. Hawg took a giant leap again into the pool and started paddling like mad. I grabbed the board, he climbed on and he got pushed around the pool for about 5 minutes. After he got out and dried off for a bit, the little bugger did another header into the pool. This time, he went underwater. The pictures today are after he went totally under water. As you can see, he is still not upset about being so wet, he just wanted to jump into the water some more. I think I have a water dog disguised as a Yorkie.

Going forward, I am really going to have to keep an eye on him so that he doesn't jump in when I am not around. At least he knows where the steps are, he always jumps in over the steps, then turns around and swims to the steps (assuming I am not already in the pool). So, for those of you who didn't think Yorkies can swim, Yorkies do swim. On a side note, Gypsy can swim, but doesn't like to get her feet wet. She is not a water dog...

Until tomorrow...