NEW TRICKS
Some old fashioned people believe that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.  That is not true!  Any enlightened dog who is up to date on the current literature knows that with a little encouragement we should all be able to enjoy life long learning.

I am a case in point.  (Not that I am old...I am just comfortably middle aged.)  Still ever since I was a puppy, I have avoided swimming.  My father Oscar was a great swimmer and some of my pups are real water dogs...but not me.  On very hot days I have been known to wade a little but that is as far as I ever went.
 

Well this summer, my daughter Bella came to stay for five weeks while her negligent parents went to Britain....(You can read her story here.)
Now Bella is an excitable dog and becomes all twisted about things that do not bother me at all so I do not jump every time she barks.  That being said my curiosity got the better of me because I noticed she was always down at our pond barking in an aggressive manner.  (We have a very big pond.)


This is our pond.  That is the ocean in the background. I do not go out to the sea shore unless I have my mother or father with me.  They would worry if I went that far alone.

But back to Bella barking and making a fuss....I thought I should  check out the scene.  You would not believe it!  Those harmless little koi that I scoped out a couple of years ago and thought were beneath my notice have become monsters!!!! One of them is about two feet long!   For once, Bella had a point.  If not curbed, these fish could take over the whole yard.

Well as all my readers know I am a very dutiful dog, and so a dog's gotta do what a dogs gotta do.  Here I am chasing those cheeky koi.
 

The weather was quite hot, and you know, once we got into it Bella and I both  found that this swimming was rather a good way to cool down.


I cannot wait to tell my Aunt Gay.  She is studying adult education and I know she will be impressed to hear that I am still learning new things.