Friday, June 25, 2010
Ruskin Picnic Area

We didn’t want to bring the puppies here to learn to swim because it is quite rocky, but since they had drained the lake at Hayward, the water levels were super high which covered most of the rocks. With the water level higher than usual, the boat launch provided a gradual decline into the water. This way the puppies can ease themselves into the water on a flat steady surface rather than walking on rocks and having a sudden drop off. Once they are good swimmers, like Jordan is, the rocks won’t be such a big deal.

When we first arrived there were no dogs at all but that changed pretty quickly. In no time there were at least five other dogs. We had a little scare with Kratos, he disappeared for a little bit, he ran away! Another dog that was there became a little too aggressive with Taro, Taro yelped, and Stephen and I immediately ran toward him. During this time, the dog who had hurt him ran off, after hearing him yelp, and I guess Kratos ran after him. When we realized Taro was ok, there were no punctures or anything, we turned around to grab Kratos and he was gone. My heart stopped. We were calling his name, I threw a leash on Taro and started running up toward the parking lot, as Stephen was checking the water. I found him with a couple dogs in the parking lot, but he looked scared. He heard me, and saw me and came running. Even though I wanted to tell him how bad he was for running away, I had to bite my tongue, keep my words to myself and praise him for coming to me right away. I was just so glad that he didn’t get any further and that we were able to find him. He had his harness on, so I just walked him back to the boat launch hanging on to him. This is when we decided that we need to get some dog ID tags!!

They had a great time there, my girlfriend and her two kids were there as well, so they got to enjoy the kids as well as the water and other dogs. We ended up taking them to a quieter area around the corner from where we were, just so we could keep a closer eye on them. I didn’t want the same thing to happen again.

Kratos got the hang of swimming almost instantly. Taro panicked a little, and was splashing a lot. It was really cute though. I’m sure after a few more visits they will both be excellent swimmers. Once Hayward Lake is filled we will use the off leash dog area there.

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