It has been a glorious weekend weather wise. Hotter than the Med. So... a perfect weekend for swimming. Now...I grew up around boats and water...something I was keen to pass on to my children. It seems I was successful, as they all lifeguard, even qualified to do river rescues from either the banks with a throw line, or from a racing kayak, quite a feat!!! They spent their young teenage years traipsing around Europe attending kayak races, Belgium, France, Germany and being selected for the world famous Descent of the Ribadesella in northern Spain, amazing race. Just last weekend, my eldest was swimming and working at the lovely new Olympic swimming pool here in East London, and had to perform CPR on one of the swimming coaches, I hope he is now recovered. So, I think it is established that we are able around water! But Oh No....someone less qualified doesn't like that a water dog should be in the pool with a life jacket (because of the deep water). Firstly.. it is a buoyancy aid, and secondly, health and safety requires it. Thirdly, all puppies are thoroughly vet checked prior to swimming, heart, lungs and movement are all looked at. All the owners were asked beforehand, and each and every one loved it...sour grapes me thinks!!! Anyway, we took our three for a swim yesterday, Mirabelle came along too, though just to watch. It will only be a very short time now before all the puppies can splash and paddle and play in the water, the main concern of going before the second vaccinations is the risk of Weil's Disease or what we all know as Leptospirosis, you are at risk in the water as it is picked up from rat's urine, and where isn't there a rat? Two of the puppies have their own stream running through the garden, and one lives by the sea, with two very able and talented water rescue dogs and their owners. I found these photo's, we were at the National Elevage in Le Blanc, France, 2009, while others were in the hall showing their dogs and melting in the heat, we were on the banks of the river, eating ice creams to cool down, and doing what water dogs do best....swimming! It was delightful to watch a fake drowning, my daughter who swam into the middle of the river in her underwear( we were at a dog show afterall, so didn't pack the bikini's), and this qualified water rescue Newfoundland who actually does work on the beaches in Italy. It took direction from the owner and performed a wonderful rescue. Though we all spoke different languages, our love of the dogs brought us together.
And even Odo who is a verrrry competent swimmer, wears a buoyancy aid at times! ! !