Missy used to leave near one of the entrances to Frick Park which was far from the large dog parks, but relatively close to the gully with many trails and the dog water-park named Hot Dog Dam. This was only fenced on 3 sides and the 4th side was a very steep hill which kept the dogs more or less near the water. To a young Laika, this set-up usually meant trying to run in the woods and chase squirrels, so I approached with cautious optimism that she would be ok there. Ramona, Missy's pup, was really chill outside, so Missy would be able to help me with Laika if need be. An extra set of eyes would be good, especially since Laika's brindle coat blended pretty well with the colors of the forest!
In true Laika fashion, her first trip to Hot Dog Dam was full of testing the boundaries of everything. It might have been the first time she was able to go swimming, so she hadn't yet discovered her love of water. Instead, she ran around looking for things to chase on the hill and eventually jumped the fence to meet some other pups on the trail that ran alongside the off-leash area. Luckily, it was just because she wanted to play and not to try to tussle (which she rarely did at the park). After wrangling her back into the "fenced" area, Laika entered the water and didn't really want to come out. She discovered her love of swimming! For the rest of the time, she happily splashed with the other pups in the shallow end. It was great to see her so excited and making friends, so I planned to take her back again soon with Missy and Ramona.
On the second trip, Laika went straight into the water. There were a lot of dogs there and, since it had rained recently, the water-level was a bit deeper. Not only was this excellent for swimming, but it allowed Laika to show-off her new favorite skill: diving (well, it was more like running full-speed down the hill and leaping Superman-style into the deepest part of the water, but "diving" is the closest word I can think of). The first time she did it kind of surprised all of the humans present, since not everyone saw her do it, but everyone heard the enormous splash that she made upon contact! A few people were legitimately startled by the noise she made. Laika was so happy with herself that she jumped-out of the water and paraded around to get everyone's attention (as if she didn't have it already). Then she performed her trick again, taking a huge running start about 20 ft away from the opposite bank, which kind of made a natural diving board (as it was raised about 2 ft above the surface of the water). She then ran full speed toward the water, launching into the air and soaring toward the middle of the stream and landing with a huge splash! Her hang-time was impressive, as was the vision of all four of her legs fully-extended and her smile so wide that her tongue was hanging out, flapping in the breeze. Missy almost fell over laughing and a lot of other people found it super amusing, too. It was a perfect belly-flop that produced waves of water and joy throughout the park!
I am pretty certain that Laika could sense how entertaining her "diving" exposition was to everyone around, so she did what she loved to do with captive audiences: continue the show! Other dogs took heed to her actions and cleared the way for her to continue the performance! At one point, a dog-mom expressed a bit of concern about Laika potentially getting hurt. Missy and I both laughed and noted that this was a pretty tame act of dare-devilishness (is this a word?) for Laika and she was actually being relatively careful. (It recall the woman who asked was new to having a pup and on subsequent visits was more in tune with the controlled madness of the park.) We went back to enjoying the spectacle and sheer joy that Laika was transmitting with her dives. She must've done it about 20 times until she was actually tired and laid-down in the shallow water. It was an intense demonstration, but was pretty much par for the course for Laika. She left Hot Dog Damn a minor celebrity that day, maybe not for her skill but for her lovable, goofy insanity! (To this day, I can still see the looks of bemusement on everyone's faces who were witnesses to the display.) As usual, Laika happily wiggled her way out of the park, though this time with a tinge of exhaustion from all the fun.
On subsequent trips to Hot Dog Dam, Laika would completely enjoy both diving and swimming equally. Her excitement at "discovering" diving had subsided, but she still treated myself and others to excellent displays of being a gravity-defying Superdog each time...just not continuously like before. I am just glad that this episode of flight involved a water landing. One other time, we weren't so lucky...(to be continued tomorrow)
Figure this is an apt photo to embody the insanity of Laika's diving. Wish I had an actual photo.
No comments:
Post a Comment