Posts tagged "swimming"

It's summer, you guys. True, we're three weeks away from the actual summer solstice, but everyone knows the "official" starting day of the season doesn't mean anything. Like anyone's going to wait until the end of June to start having summer fun. Memorial Day has passed, and that means it's time to put on your shorts and flip-flops and head down to the beach or pool to get tan and maybe have a swim. Or if you're more the draw-the-shades-and-hide-from-skin-cancer type, it's time to crank up the air conditioner and hunker down for a few months. But that doesn't mean you can't still go for a swim... in your mind!

This cute puppy has the right idea. He might be afraid to risk catching melanoma from the harmful rays of the sun, but he still has enough imagination to enjoy a long, relaxing doggy paddle in a fantasy ocean or lake. To be honest, we're not sure what it is in this dog's brain that equates lapping waves with the frigid breeze of an air conditioner's fan, but who are we to question the mind-bending power of anybody's imagination? Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...

Cute Pet Name: Gromit

Location: Massachusetts

Age: 3 years

Dog Breed: Border collie

Favorite Toy: Tennis ball.

Favorite Treat: String cheese.

Likes: Retrieving, swimming, agility, meeting new dogs and people.

Dislikes: Baths.

Fun Fact: Gromit is a tricolored border collie with freckles. He has green eyes with a blue chip in his left eye.

Weird Quirk: Gromit is obsessed with tennis balls and can find them almost anywhere.

Congratulations to our submitter, WoofBC. If you'd like to submit your pet, upload your favorite pet photos to our Flickr pool!

More Cute Pets

At the Longleat House and Safari Park in the UK, Beverley Allen is teaching two tiny otters how to swim. The pair, named Sumalee and Kasem, are being given swimming lessons in a baby pool in preparation to be returned to their Mom Mum and Dad.

Allen took over hand raising the otters because their mother was too old to produce milk for them. According to the Longleat House website, "the cuddly creatures live in her spare room, scamper round the house after her and even sit on her lap while she watches television." Initially she had to bottle feed them every two hours so having them in her home at night made that possible.

Says Allen about the cuddly cuties, "I started off putting them in the sink with a little bit of water when they were about nine weeks old. Then they progressed to my bath, where I could make the water a bit deeper to let them practice their breathing. Now they're splashing around quite happily in a paddling pool, with a few toys to encourage them to play."

"We're beginning to introduce them to their mum and dad gradually," says Allen, "letting them get used to the smell and sounds, so it won't be long now until they're with them permanently."

In the meantime, we could watch this video all day long. And we just might.

Those little legs, that stout build, and those floppy ears? It's enough to send a corgi owner swooning with delight for his cuddly little friend. Moreover, the first time around, we were as thrilled as crazy dog people like us can get at the sight of a corgi -- such a cute breed -- doing a full-on belly flop!

Well, Cooper is back, and he's still in his adorable doggie floatie device. (What are you trying to do to us, make us choke on our own excitement?) This time at Thetis Lake in Victoria, British Columbia, Cooper takes another plunge into the water. And once again. we're all watching in delight.


More Cute Videos

What animal lover hasn't daydreamed about ditching their desk job and applying for a job at the zoo? Or at a doggy daycare? Or tracking gorillas in Africa? We sure have, but since most of us may never actually get to work with the animals we love, we thought we'd introduce you to a few people who do.

Name: Jean Marie Cooper
Age: 39
Job Title: Manager and Rehabilitation Coordinator at Water4Dogs, New York City's only pool for dogs.

How did you get into aquatic therapy for dogs?
I thought that because I wasn't a vet, I couldn't have a career with animals. Then I heard of animal massage and enrolled in massage school for humans to learn more. When the first canine pool in New York opened in 1998 -- Bonnie's K-9 Swim -- I went right over and applied for a job. It was there I leaned what a valuable tool water is when treating dogs. It makes exercise easier, more effective, and safer for the dogs. Bonnie's later closed, and the owner opened Water4Dogs two years ago.

Do all dogs know how to swim?
They all have the instinct to paddle, but if a dog hasn't been in a pool before, they may not be very coordinated with that. They may kind of thrash around. Labs, golden retrievers, Portuguese water dogs, poodles, German shepherds and pit bulls are very good swimmers. Rottweilers are great in the water. Jack Russells either love it or hate it. Dachshunds kind of have the big dog personality; they have a lot of confidence so once they get used to the water they're swimming around like nobody's business.

Dogs that are very muscularly dense like bulldogs and pugs, they have short little legs, they can paddle but they don't make a lot of progress, so they need assistance.

If you think crisping your bod in the warm sun is an exclusively human experience come summertime, then consider yourself mistaken. Plenty of our canine friends love to hit the beach, too (when legally allowed, of course). And while most pooches will jump right into the water, ready to fetch or show off their doggy paddling abilities, some of our furry friends prefer to go all-out, choosing instead to hop on a surfboard and ride the tide, doggystyle.

Maybe it's a West Coast thing, but there are plenty of videos featuring dogs catching waves and hanging ten in the California sun (and beyond). Cowabunga, dudes! (Or we should we say "Dog-abunga!" Zing!)