{05aug2011: woo hoo}

Thanks for the comments on our last wordless Wednesday post. Many of you asked about the mustached fellow. On all my trips I bring along a new toy to come on our adventure.
My red velvet cupcake came to Peru:

Bert the owl and Paddie the pickle came to Cambodia:

I've had a stuffed corn in Indiana, pineapple Pete in Hawaii, and other friends join us on our trips. This time it was Macho Ninja's turn. 

Anyway, back to the post at hand. When Darwin was under a year old and we went to Marymoor Park, she used to always go in the water on hot summer days. And not just go in, but actually play in the water.

Winter came and went and the next summer she would not go in. No matter if it was HOT HOT HOT out she wouldn't do it. Fair enough to say that the entry into the water at Marymoor isn't ideal. It's not a gradual slope in, but rocks or steps.
Darwin doesn't seem to like going in on the steps. Not being able to really see the next step down freaks her out.
The other weekend I took Dar to the park and it was HOT out. Not rest of the country hot, but  mid 70's Seattle hot. On Saturday my friend Susan came to the park with us and I tried going down into the water (it's shallow enough that it only comes up to mid thigh) and Darwin spent the 15 minutes I was in there trying to lure her in, standing on the steps barking at me. No go.
Sunday Darwin and I went back to the park and it was hotter than the day before. I got in the water again and again she barked at me. Marymoor has 4-5 different entry points into the water so I got out and we walked around and tried what I thought would be and easier spot. I stood there for about 20 minutes, this time two other strangers on the steps with their dog tried to help coax Dar in. She got close at one point as I lured her with treats and she took one step into the water, but then quickly backed out. By then some of our other Dane friends showed up so we did a few laps around the park with them.

We got back to the waterhole and this time all the Danes went straight in the water (Sirus, Georgia, Phoenix and Archimedes) and Darwin stayed on the side. I got back in the water along with Phoenix and Archimedes' mom and the other owners stayed on the step. Darwin barked at first, but I think convinced by all her friends being in the water, built up the courage and got in!

Georgia and Archimedes

Darwin and Georgia

Darwin and Winston

Once in the water Darwin was fine, even happy to be in.
We haven't been back to the park in a couple weekends and it's supposed to be hot again this weekend. I'm hoping Darwin will remember how easy it was to get in last time and do it again without all the drama!

{163 days old}

One Sunday this summer there were ALOT of danes at the "dane convention".  Here's a video showing most of them.


And here's a video of Darwin doing some wading.


 

{149 days old}

Since Darwin was so well behaved on the 4th of July and her spay day was coming up, we took her to Marymoor the next day.  We found some of the dane group, but Darwin still seemed a bit pooped from all the excitement the day before.
{Sirus checking on Darwin}

But then a new little harlequin puppy showed up and Darwin perked up.

After some play time with the new guy, Darwin and I met up with her bff Juneau for some water time.

First we tried to use the rubber chicken to lure her in... no luck.
Aileen had better luck with the tennis ball!

Once she was in, she realized she actually liked it in the cool water versus baking on the steps.

Me, wanting to test her out a bit, threw the tennis ball out which she willingly fetched (and she doesn't usually fetch).  So on the last throw I throw it a bit farther out, not realizing the ground falls away pretty quickly.
{we're ok so far}

{uh oh, where'd that ground go}

{oh no! no ground!}

So she sank, and then swam back very quickly and out of the water she went.  She would not go back in after that.

Juneau on the other hand looked at Darwin like, "swim girl swim"!

I was worried she'd be traumatized after that experience, but it turns out she wasn't!  woo hoo!

{140 days old}

New park!  We decided to try out a new park after going to Marymoor a few times.  This time we headed over to Magnuson Off Leash Park which is the only park in Seattle with a beach!  I brought some bubbles with us for Darwin to chase.

We made it down to the water area to see if Darwin would get in the water.

She wasn't really sure of it, so Jason had to walk in with her so she'd go in.

We were impressed that she was willing to go so far in... still hoping that we'll get her to swim, and like it!

{114 days old}

Darwin finished her third round of shots, so we celebrated by going to Marymoor for our first "great dane convention" (as our friend likes to call it).  Here she is checking out George and getting checked out by Teshua.

We also spent some time trying to lure her into the water... 

She took a small step in but wasn't willing to go much further.

She also got to meet this beautiful harlequin, Olivia... 

{Did you see how big she is?!}

It was a great chance to meet the group for the first time, and let Darwin have some time around full grown danes.