Last Saturday we (Emily, Brent and I) took the dogs to the San Leandro Marina for a walk and a swim. We didn’t swim; the dogs did. Both of them! Amazingly Ripley actually waded into the water of his own free will. Ripley does this hilarious things where he walks through the water with his mouth stretched wide open letting the water gush into his mouth. It has got to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen him do. If we ever a get a digital video camera we are definitely going to try to get some video of it.

As usual Cali played fetch in the water. We throw a little rubber ball out as far as we can and Cali swims out to get it. The ball we brought with us last Saturday didn’t float quite as well as we hoped. If Cali bumps it with her nose without actually gripping it in her teeth the ball takes a few seconds to float back to the surface. This caused Cali to dive underwater a couple of times which scared all of us just a little! Cali is actually a proficient diver and it can be cool to watch her dive in a pool if we’re right there to keep a close eye on her. However, when she’s twenty-five or more yards out and she dives underwater, we get a little worried.

The most amazing thing of all has to do with Rip though. After we brought Cali in we tried to see if we could get Rip to fetch the ball if we just tossed it a couple of feet out. Rip reluctantly waded out to the ball and plunged his head full into the water to scoop the ball out. It took him three or four tries but he eventually got it and brought it back. Brent threw the ball out a few more times; each time a little further out. Rip got the ball again and again and got better at gripping the ball in his teeth on the first try. The last attempt Brent threw the ball maybe ten yards out. Rip actually ran out toward it but got frightened when he got a little too far out.

This is amazing progress for Rip because traditionally he has been afraid of any kind of water at all. When we got home Brent gave both dogs a bath at the same time. The pictures say everything.