We have a boat.

We like to spend as much weekend time on it as possible during these loooooong (and HOT) NC summers. Sometimes, we spend too much weekend time on it and feel like our poor dog, Lucky, is sad and neglected all by her lonesome at home.

Wee problem: Lucky isn’t a big fan of the boat. Our girl has no balance in a moving vehicle and gets tossed around unless someone is holding onto her and helping with inertia’s twisted game. In her defense, she isn’t all that muscular (though she’s tough), and she weighs about 11 lbs.

I’m pretty sure I’d flail about, too.

The bigger problem is it often makes her sick.

So sometimes, being on the boat makes her barf. Not fun.

Another problem is that she just isn’t terribly fond of swimming. I swear she has a magnet that pulls her back to the boat, because the second she hits the water, she’s making a beeline for the ladder. This wouldn’t be a problem if NC didn’t have such loooooooooong (and HOT) summers.

So we sometimes bring her along out of pity – she thinks we do it to torture her.

We’re convinced she’ll eventually like it once she gets more used to it. Her usual swimming M.O. is to A) get plunked in the water and head straight back to the boat or B) get plunked in the water and swim to one of us then climb up onto a chest, using Mommy or Daddy as her own personal island in de sun.

Like so:

(she’s pffffft-ing this swimming nonsense)

But never before have ducks passed by our boat when Lucky has been on it. Today was the day.

She and I were hanging out on the boat, and I saw off to the side two ducks swimming by. I grabbed Lucky onto my lap and pointed them out. The ears and tail went up, and she was READY. She followed them to the front and then to the other side, and when they were right next to us, Lucky, who despises swimming and will only get in the water under force, jumped in off the side of the boat and started swimming after the ducks.

I laughed hysterically for a minute, wondered how far she’d go and if we’d have to swim miles to retrieve our little hunter, and then I got a brilliant idea. Camera.

She swam from the side to decently ahead of the boat before giving up and returning. The rest of the day was spent on Official Duck Patrol, and you know what? Being on the boat and in the water might not be so bad after all.

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7 Responses to Motivation changes everything

  1. Moni says:

    Very cute! Makes me want to go find some ducks for my little one to chase. :)

  2. sarah says:

    so glad she had a great time and now has a reason to enjoy the boat!

  3. Suzanne says:

    Our (much larger) dog also gets sick on our boat, but in a…different manner. It’s not fun.

    Those ducks don’t look nearly scared enough of what is clearly a vicious hunter dog.

  4. molly says:

    haha! I love it. My pug Roxie swims too :)

  5. So stinkin cute!! Maybe now she’ll like to come!

  6. amber says:

    Okay, that is hilarious!

  7. CarrieV says:

    Your Lucky and my Papi seriously need to get together and make some babies. They look so much alike and both hate water:)

    Spoil the hell outta her now while you still can!

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