"Swimming" at the Park

Mansion on top of the hill.

I had a rare weekend off and it was a beautiful day so Luna and I decided to explore the local park that we visited in the winter.  It was unbelievably hot walking out to the creek that runs through the park.  The high humidity made it miserable for both of us.  I was seriously worried about whether Luna would be able to walk that far since it was so hot.  I kept an eye on her panting and kept us in the shade as much as possible.  If needed, I had a bottle of water and a collapsible water bowl in my bag.

Hang in there puppy.

Aside from Luna's experience with hydrotherapy, she hasn't had a lot of experience with water.  I wondered how she would react to wading in the stream.  My last greyhound, Eris, never liked to go further into the water than her wrists.  Even in the most extreme heat, Eris would avoid swimming and prefer to just stick her toes in the water.

Whether due to the extreme heat, her past experience with hydrotherapy, or simply her easy going nature,  Luna walked straight into the water without hesitation and went in until her chest was submerged. She didn't seem at all worried about the uneven bottom with big, slippery rocks.  I was worried about them, though, so I tried to direct her to areas with smaller rocks that she would be less likely to trip over.

Does that feel good puppy?

Oh yes it does!

Enjoying the sandy bank.

Now that is a happy puppy.

After a nice cool down, we followed the stream and found the bridge where the trail goes over the water.  I couldn't help thinking to myself, "Better keep an eye out for trolls."  Luna was curious about my voice echoing off of the sides of the bridge so we played around with the echo for awhile.  It was nice and cool under the bridge.  We wadded in the water there for a long while.

Luna keeps an eye out for trolls.

Nice and shady here.

Is that water feeling good?

Ahhhh!!!! :-)

Eventually, Luna signaled to me that she was ready to head back to the car.  We took a shortcut off the path to keep Luna walking on grass and get to the parking lot faster.  The cicadas were in full force which freaked me out.  I really don't like cicadas and they were everywhere!  The noise was intense, their dead bodies littered the ground, and (worst of all) they kept clumsily flying into me.  Bleh!

Despite the heat, it was a really nice day out with the pup.  I hope to visit the park again before the summer is over, but maybe we'll wait for a cooler day.