Golden retrievers take to water like ducks, right?  Not quite.  The first time that Duchess went swimming in the summer of 2000 it was by accident.  She thought she was running through a puddle and the first leap took her in over her head.  She made it back to shore with much frantic splashing...without the dummy.  For her first real swimming lesson we went to a lake with a sloping, sandy bottom.  She was willing to go after the dummy, but she splashed so much that she couldn't see where she was going, and trying to avoid the splash got her so vertical in the water that she could barely make any forward progress.  What a comedy act.   This happened repeatedly.  Once she finally got the dummy in her mouth, the trip back was fine.  Now she swims fast enough to leave a wake.  Good swamp collie!

Back to those gorgeous goldens.