She hated the ocean in Northern California, but then so did I! The beach was always fun, but that Pacific Ocean was so cold.
Here in Florida she seemed to be expecting the same water. We took her to the beach for the first time at night, and she was pretty petrified of the waves. Jim pulled her into the water once, and she quickly ran right out. She didn't mind wandering in the standing water and she loved running on the beach.
The pool was no better for her. She would just pace around the pool like a lion, sometimes barking, sometimes coming up to the edge of the water to sniff whoever was playing in it. Even when we played catch with one of her toys, she just looked sort of curious, but never enough to join us.
Then, when we took her for another walk on the beach yesterday, she surprised us. First, we wandered just in the area of the water that she liked, just enough to wet her paws. Then slowly, she started wandering into deeper water. Once she realized that the little waves weren't actually attacking her, she wandered even farther. After about an hour, she was playing, jumping, and even swimming just a little bit, next to Jim! She still didn't like when a big wave came crashing down near her, so she would run from those, but her fear of the nice, warm, Florida ocean had finally disappeared. The only challenge was when Jim tried to give her a shower in the men's room afterward to rinse off the salt water. She didn't like that nearly as much as the ocean.
We went back this morning, and as soon as we hit the sand, she made a beeline for the water. Most of the walk was spend with her in the water up to her knees, and when it was time to play she went in even a little bit farther than yesterday. And today, we stuck to her normal bath of the hose outside of the house. That went much more smoothly!
Maybe there will be a lake in Virginia that we can try out next. I bet she'd love it, and maybe some day she'll be a real water dog!
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