like seeing your dog be his happiest self!
On Sunday we went to my parent’s for Father’s Day. As usual we ended up down near the pond, searching for frogs, and turtles. My dad is usually the ring leader. He walks along the edge with a net while the rest of us follow. Klaus has recently gotten to the point where we let him off leash at my parents. It used to make me super nervous because…well, my parents house is definitely exciting for a dog. There are so many smells to follow. It was my dad who’d always push me to let Klaus off leash and it’s been amazing. He’s never all that great at listening the first ten or fifteen minutes but eventually he calms down and remembers what the heck his name is. You can tell he’s having a blast. He follows us around as we walk the edge of water but never really stays still for too long. He’s always running back and forth.
Since starting these off leash adventures we’ve really been trying hard to convice Klaus to swim. He’s not interested in the deep parts of the pond. He prefers the gross swampy part. It’s whatever, I’m just happy to see him enjoying water of some sort even if he does need a hose down before leaving and then a bath once we get home.
On Sunday, the pond was much more shallow than normal. It hadn’t rained there in a while. Water levels had dropped, and the muddy pits had expanded. Basically it was Klaus heaven. He was zooming back and forth. We were trying to get him to hop in the water by throwing sticks in and yelling “get it! get it, buddy!” He was being cautious and resisting the urge to chase the sticks. Then, all of a sudden, he jumped straight in the muddiest part! He looked a little startled by how deep it was but before I knew it he was back in the mud. Not just running through it though, he plopped right down. He layed there for a second before army crawling through it into the shallow water. From there he jumped back onto land and seemed enjoy terrorizing everyone as they tried to avoid the inevitately muddy mess he’d make when he shook off. Then back to his mud pit he went. He did this three or four times.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Klaus look happier. It made my heart swell to a million times its regular size. I was so busy watching and laughing as he did this I wasn’t sure I captured any decent photos. When I got home and sorted through the shots I immediately knew that I had to write this wonderful little moment its own post. I’m melting over these photos.
I can’t wait to see if he’ll finally swim in the pond this year. Even if he doesn’t and just sticks to the mud pits, I’ll be happy because I know he’s happy!
xoxo
