1st Swim!

Momos favorite head rest.

My parents took last Friday off in order to have an extra long weekend and we wanted to do something fun. Usually it's impossible to go somewhere for the day - an antisocial, giant dog doesn't exactly equal daycare doggie bliss. So instead, we decided to participate in a Mokey friendly outing - we went swimming!

She swims!

Awhile ago Mom and I had heard about a dog training facility that had a large indoor dog pool - and (the best part) you can rent it! We've been wanting to try it out for awhile and Friday turned out to be the perfect day. So I gave Mokey her meds (I did use less than usual b/c I didn't want her too drugged to swim safely) and we started collecting everything we'd need for such an outing. Mokeys life jacket, tons of towels, a water toy, treats, waterproof leash, camera and finally - after I had enough luggage to envy that of a toddlers diaper bag  - we headed out to have our adventure.

Mokey takes a break.

The facility was so nice! The pool was large and heated and deep enough so that Mokey could even leap in if she'd been so inclined (which she wasn't). They had a variety of doggie life vests available in case you forgot yours and a tub to hose the dogs off in afterward - they even had a ton of water toys! Yay! The people were pretty great too. Sometimes having a reactive dog means people can be standoffish with you, but they were very nice about helping to keep the hall clear while we took Mokey from the car to the pool room and back. :)

Mokey was pretty nervous at first. The entire place was brand new to her and even in the pool room she could hear the other dogs barking, so we let her sniff around for a while before trying to coax her into the pool. She was interested in it right away but both Mom and I had to get in before she was willing to brave the ramp down into the pool. Once she did get in we tried to help hold her up and let her have really quick swims then we led her back to the ramp so she could climb back out. She came back several times to swim again - but that first step off the ramp was always the scariest. Mokey dunked her head a couple times while attempting it and while no harm came to her - it was a little freaky. The one downside to the facility is that the ramp was only about 15" wide - which isn't very wide at all when you're a large leonberger with little bodily awareness. Mom and I had to catch her several times so that she didn't completely topple off  and get stuck b/w it and the pool wall. Mo only lasted about half an hour before she was too tired to try and swim anymore and was pretty much asleep for the rest of the day once we got home. ;)

I probably had more fun than Mokey did - but I know the next time will be better. She'll at least have an idea what it's about and the building won't be completely brand new either. At the very least she voluntarily came back to get in the water several times so I'm taking that as a good sign. I'm hoping that these kind of exercises will help build her confidence up.

Mokey's relaxes on the way home.