Water Dog

Bear is sort of a wimp.  We'd been worried for a while that he wouldn't be able to enjoy the lake because he has been so terrified of the pool.  We took a gamble and got him a life jacket for his birthday.  That sure changed his outlook.  The little guy thought he was invincible when he had his life jacket on.

Blake's parents' just bought paddle boards, so we took them out for a test drive a few minutes after we arrived on Thursday.  Bear hopped right on (unbidden) and loved his ride across the cove.  After a few rides he became truly adventurous and would jump off the end of the board to swim to the other board or to the beach.

Like I said, the life vest turned him into a different puppy.

After paddle boarding, boat rides, walking around town, attending the 4th of July parade, meeting other dogs, taking long walks, and rolling in the sand on the beach, Bear was in heaven.  He collapsed on the rug at the end of each day and wouldn't move until 8:00 the next morning.  That's sort of a minor miracle considering he's usually up and ready to play at 6:45 a.m.

We're pretty sure Bear was as sad as we were when we had to leave on Sunday afternoon.  He looked so concerned as we packed up our suitcases and cleaned the house.  We never know quite what's going on in that fluffy head of his, but there's a fairly good chance that much of what is currently going on is schemes of ways to get back up to Winnipesaukee.

Hopefully soon, little Bear, hopefully soon.