Callie's Favorite Sport
Like Jamie, Callie has become addicted to playing “Water Frisbee.” She loves to dive into Lake Arrowhead to retrieve her “Floppy Disc.”
As a perfect example of how dogs like “structure,” Callie has two distinct Frisbee routines, depending on lake conditions.
Her favorite “routine” is to run the length of our boat dock, drop her Floppy Disc at the end of the pier, wait for me to toss the Floppy Disc, and then dive into the lake to retrieve it. Then she swims to shore, climbs up some stone steps, puts the Floppy Disc down to shake off the water, and then continues the loop back to the end of the pier for another dive.
Her other “routine” is to stay close to the stone steps. She waits until someone gives the Floppy Disc a short toss, and then she dives off the steps, retrieves the Floppy Disc, and swims back to the steps.
Either way, Callie is in Golden Retriever Heaven. It’s fun to see how comfortable she is within the two “structures,” or “routines.” It works for me, too, because there’s a lot of boat traffic on the lake and I am happy to know that Callie will stay within her routes.
Callie is so into this that she begs to go to the lake for a swim. She gives me the same intense “please!” look that she uses to beg me to play soccer every day when we’re at home.
One other note about Callie’s swimming. Take a look at some of the video of Callie learning to swim, and you’ll see that she wasn’t exactly a “natural” swimmer. She would paw at the water and “screw up her confidence” before jumping in. Even at age four, she had a little hesitation about diving into the lake. Now, she is totally comfortable diving in.
Callie’s swimming is one of my favorite “dog bonding” activities — it’s a real partnership.
