Michael Phelps doesn't have anything on Chewie - er, or maybe he does...
Gromit and Chewie are lab and poodle mixes - Gromit is an F1B - I have no idea what it stands for but it means that his Mom was a labradoodle and his dad was a standard poodle. Chewie has a standard poodle dad and a chocolate labrador retriever mom. I have never read anything that says much about the generational differences between the two - I really liked the idea of first generation from a robust health perspective and our vet has called Chewie a model specimen - I adore the poodle in Gromit. We are lucky to have a little of each. It is kind of funny because we didn't get these boys because we had allergies or because we didn't want shedding, we got them because we wanted smart and fun dogs that were likely to be healthy. Yeah, um, we got some pretty darn busy active boys - and they are strong and healthy.
So one of the things we have worked on with Chewie is swimming. He gets very hot pretty easily. We live in the land of a bunch of lakes. He has water retriever in him....he - should - swim - period. Chewie was not so sure about the water. The first time we went to the lake, you can imagine - we got up in the morning and took the pups down to the water...there was the big white boy racing like mad around in the water, up the shore, down the shore - happy, crazy happy - and our careful black doodle is cautiously sniffing the shoreline with the water at his side. Then he sniffs the sand and faces the water, stepping a little closer - suddenly the water laps the shore as waves from a boat wake wash up and he jumps back and barks at me like I made it happen and it isn't funny or something....maybe he was telling me to be careful.
We take a break and try again later towards dinner time- we get him to the shoreline. To get him back we bring his ball. So we try tossing it along he shoreline - and runs to get it but his feet get wet. Well, that seems to be okay and with his ball the waves aren't nearly as scary - or maybe Chewie is less focused on safety and more focused on the work to be done. Eventually we toss it in an inch or two of water - hmmm...now he barks at it and tries to pick it up - but it bobs down.
More barking - a paw comes up and he is about to touch it, but wait, no it is a point intsead...finally he tries again with the paw, the ball bobs around and he finally picks it up and looks at me like - if I bring this back to you what are you gonna do next.... I toss the ball back into the yard and he races to get it, with some happy relief. We spent the first summer helping him wade into the water. Eventually he was comfortable enough to make like a hippo and sink down into it - but there would be no swimming.
Early this summer I took the boys down to the dog park at the river. It is large park that meanders through woods down a bluff to a sandy beach. It is a large park and a big Sunday meet and walk place. Anyway, I accidentally threw the ball in too far and Chewie barked and barked and barked at me - there were a number of swimming dogs on the beach. Finally, an older gray haired an bulky yellow lab that was resting next to his person stood up and shook himself awake - he looked at Chewie a bit distastefully and continued into the water swimming out to Chewie's ball. He snatched it up and brought it back to the beach, dropped it in front of Chewie and strolled back to his person, turned and barked at Chewie and promptly took his place on the ground next to his person with a harumphful sigh.
That was it - we had to get Chewie to swim, even this other dog thought he needed to get a grip - LOL! So he next time we went to visit my parents at the lake - the whole family was there. Chewie had started agility and his confidence was increasing each week. He didn't wait for us to show him the lake he ran right to it. We played a bit with him and Gromit We threw his ball out in the water gently throwing it a tad bit further as he got inreasingly comfortable. All of a sudden it happened - he lost the ground and started do swim. After that it was a matter of practice. He finally got it and was so happy he raced around barking and bowing and doing his two front paw bow and jump.
Here are a couple of videos - one of Chewie swimming and one of Gromit and I playing hide and seek. I have posted this one a couple of times but it cracks me up so here it is again.
Chewie Swims
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/deanx032/?action=view¤t=MOV01493.flv
Chewie Swims some more
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/deanx032/?action=view¤t=MOV01498.flv
Gromit Play Hide and Seek with Heidi
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/deanx032/?action=view¤t=MOV01500.flv
So one of the things we have worked on with Chewie is swimming. He gets very hot pretty easily. We live in the land of a bunch of lakes. He has water retriever in him....he - should - swim - period. Chewie was not so sure about the water. The first time we went to the lake, you can imagine - we got up in the morning and took the pups down to the water...there was the big white boy racing like mad around in the water, up the shore, down the shore - happy, crazy happy - and our careful black doodle is cautiously sniffing the shoreline with the water at his side. Then he sniffs the sand and faces the water, stepping a little closer - suddenly the water laps the shore as waves from a boat wake wash up and he jumps back and barks at me like I made it happen and it isn't funny or something....maybe he was telling me to be careful.
We take a break and try again later towards dinner time- we get him to the shoreline. To get him back we bring his ball. So we try tossing it along he shoreline - and runs to get it but his feet get wet. Well, that seems to be okay and with his ball the waves aren't nearly as scary - or maybe Chewie is less focused on safety and more focused on the work to be done. Eventually we toss it in an inch or two of water - hmmm...now he barks at it and tries to pick it up - but it bobs down.
More barking - a paw comes up and he is about to touch it, but wait, no it is a point intsead...finally he tries again with the paw, the ball bobs around and he finally picks it up and looks at me like - if I bring this back to you what are you gonna do next.... I toss the ball back into the yard and he races to get it, with some happy relief. We spent the first summer helping him wade into the water. Eventually he was comfortable enough to make like a hippo and sink down into it - but there would be no swimming.
Early this summer I took the boys down to the dog park at the river. It is large park that meanders through woods down a bluff to a sandy beach. It is a large park and a big Sunday meet and walk place. Anyway, I accidentally threw the ball in too far and Chewie barked and barked and barked at me - there were a number of swimming dogs on the beach. Finally, an older gray haired an bulky yellow lab that was resting next to his person stood up and shook himself awake - he looked at Chewie a bit distastefully and continued into the water swimming out to Chewie's ball. He snatched it up and brought it back to the beach, dropped it in front of Chewie and strolled back to his person, turned and barked at Chewie and promptly took his place on the ground next to his person with a harumphful sigh.
That was it - we had to get Chewie to swim, even this other dog thought he needed to get a grip - LOL! So he next time we went to visit my parents at the lake - the whole family was there. Chewie had started agility and his confidence was increasing each week. He didn't wait for us to show him the lake he ran right to it. We played a bit with him and Gromit We threw his ball out in the water gently throwing it a tad bit further as he got inreasingly comfortable. All of a sudden it happened - he lost the ground and started do swim. After that it was a matter of practice. He finally got it and was so happy he raced around barking and bowing and doing his two front paw bow and jump.
Here are a couple of videos - one of Chewie swimming and one of Gromit and I playing hide and seek. I have posted this one a couple of times but it cracks me up so here it is again.
Chewie Swims
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/deanx032/?action=view¤t=MOV01493.flv
Chewie Swims some more
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/deanx032/?action=view¤t=MOV01498.flv
Gromit Play Hide and Seek with Heidi
http://s75.photobucket.com/albums/i296/deanx032/?action=view¤t=MOV01500.flv
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