It’s Monday! I have a funny story about Szuka, which I hope makes you smile.
Last year Szuka mostly avoided the lake, until Hubs and I jumped in one day. Szuka reluctantly joined us, but then proved herself to be a strong, if a little timid, swimmer. The fall encroached quickly, followed by the ice, and Szuka didn’t get much time to test her sea legs. Last week I spent an afternoon raking, with Szuka at my side. She plucked a super mangy piece of driftwood from the shore – just totally rotten and disgusting – so I tossed it back into the lake as soon as I could get my hands on it. To my surprise, she dove in after it. I started tossing stick after stick into the lake. No matter how far I threw a stick, she obligingly retrieved it. After last year’s tentative swimming, I’m surprised by how much she loves the water!
Here’s the funny part. Hubs and I were sitting on the shore, admiring my handiwork and the view, and she was chewing a stick near us. Then she heard geese squawking across the bay and took off running across our neighbour’s yard. We yelled at her to come back, and she did – begrudgingly. She knows she’s not allowed off our property – and she knows exactly where the property lines are – but sometimes the urge to protect us makes her willful. She wouldn’t come back and hang around us, but instead decided to wade into the lake and inspect our dilapidated dock (unusually high water levels last year totally destroyed it).
She walked out a little bit at a time, intensely sniffing every segment, until she reached the end.
That’s when she started to book it toward the other side of the bay. Toward the geese.
We just about died laughing at her determined swimming (and creative disobedience). We called her name and she turned around with an expression that read, “What? What do you want?”
We instructed her to come back. She looked peeved, but starting swimming back.
We’re kind of curious how far she would have gotten, or what her end game was. We were warned Komondors can be stubborn…
In other delightful doggy news, Hubs and I were having lunch with my Dad when he said he saw a mini-Szuka. I turned around and spotted a corded pup! She is a white Puli (which is less common than the typical black). Pulis are another Hungarian breed, but they have way more energy because they’re livestock herding dogs (not guarding dogs, like Komondors).
Her awesome corded coat, made even more special with colourful threads woven around some of the cords, made me regret – just for a second – not cording Szuka. I’m always envious of people who have corded their Pulis or Komondors because it looks so cool!
oh my goodness, look at that sassypants last picture! haha so cute. Glad Szuka loves the water- it's so fun to watch them swim! My dog is a total wuss about being outside but if you get him near an ocean you can finally see the true lab in him come out 🙂
Dance like no one is watching, right? Watching Szuka swim for the first time was incredible – she was fantastic. Super nervous, but knew instinctively what to do. When she came near us swimming, though, she'd try to climb on us. Good thing the water is shallow!
We had a Golden Doodle who loved the water but couldn't swim. He just let his hind legs float and they looked like a whales fin. At the time we had the most amazing dog-sitter couple who were really outdoors people. We travelled a lot one summer and they took Cody everywhere including camping and canoeing. They even purchased a life jacket for him! Needless to say, they taught him to swim and it made our walks at the local waterfront trail on Lake Ontario so much fun! Sadly, he is now at the rainbow bridge and we got a new Labradoodle in August. I sure hope swims because he sure likes to fetch!
Awww, I'm so sorry for the loss of Cody. He seemed like he was a hilarious pup! I would have loved to have seen the floating legs – so cute. I hope your new guy can swim – it's so much fun to watch them play with sticks on the water.
We have a springer spaniel and cannot keep her out of the lake whenever we visit the in-laws. She spent so much time chasing ducks that we swear they started wandering onto the lawn on purpose just to tempt her out into the water with them!
Haha, I don't know if that's adorable, or if you've got some evil ducks around! I'm wondering if Szuka's new interest in water might make her goose chasing a little more interesting… Has your springer spaniel caught a duck?
MASSIVE dose of cuteness. Just love this!! I just love that doggy facial expression of, "What? I wasn't doing anything. Not anything at ALL!"
She's like, "you said I couldn't run over there, you never said anything about swimming, jeez".
Oh they are so, so smart. Hannah's sneaky habit of the week is, "Oh, you said I can't take your socks, but you didn't specify WOOL socks. Also, if you put something in the bathroom trash, I think we can all assume it's now up for grabs to the public…It's not like you're using it anymore."
Haha, yes, wool socks DO require their own discussion. They're totally different from cotton. Oh my, the bathroom trash! Do they pick this tip up in puppy school? Our main bath can has a lid but in the half bath and office they're open, and I used to bust her pulling out my used kleenex. She chews it and then it's horrifically disgusting to pick the wet pieces out of her mouth. She hasn't grabbed one in about six months, but as a puppy she was super hooked on the used kleenex. Blech.
Szuka's not alone 🙂 our dog Mush will gladly try and chase loons across the lake if we don't stop him. He's also notorious for herding people back to shore if he thinks they've swam out too far. Dogs, so full of personality, gotta love 'em!
Now you've got me thinking, I wonder if she'll try to herd us…Komondors are supposed to gently herd you if there's danger nearby, but she's never tried. But we're pretty solid. Maybe she'll try her luck in the water, lol, where we're easier to push around. Sounds like she and Mush would be buds!
What a great blogpost!Barca also swimms but never too far away!You made me want to blog about her again!AriadnefromGreece!
Szuka and I are both jealous of the beautiful water Barca gets to swim in!
ha! great story! We just adopted a Scottie or Scottie mix, and my reading about them told me they should never be unsupervised by the water because "Scotties swim like bricks." Eek. Good thing we don't live on a lake 😉
"Swim like bricks," that's such a cute expression.
Love how Szuka has come into her own and now is confident of her swimming ability!The corded coat on the Puli is adorable, especially with the thread decoration, but how on earth do you ever get them clean if they go out and roll in the mud (or, worse yet, a dead animal, like every one of dogs did at one time or another when we lived out in the country)?
I wonder if she spent all winter thinking about the lake…I don't know how you keep a puli or kom white when they are corded. It takes awhile to bathe them with cords and a day or more for the cords to dry. That was enough to scare us away. We bathe Szuka altogether too often, but she will get super dirty around here. And it already takes forever and we all get soaked. I think they are only supposed to be bathed a few times a year because of their sensitive skin but Szuka seems fine. I did read that some show Pulis and Koms are chalked to look more white! Such cheaters… I follow some folks on IG who have Koms with cords and they do get pretty grey.
Loved the story! So glad you shared it with your readers. Told my husband about your dog adventures and he got a giggle out of it as well.
I'm so happy to hear this made you and your husband smile 🙂 I usually try to keep my rambling stories in check, but I really hoped others would find this as funny as we did! Thanks for the feedback.
Lol too funny. She just wanted to play. lol. I can't imagine how a dog with those cords would smell. I mean dogs don't smell that great at the best of times but to not be able to bathe that out fully cause it's caught up in there? Needless to say I like the short hair better lol
While there might be debris stuck inside forever, cords can be washed and the soap can be worked into them for a clean-smelling pup. It's just more work than a short haired dog. And with a girl Szuka's size, that's about all I can manage. It's already hard work! She needs a bath right now, actually, and her stinkiness is getting to me but man do I hate giving her a bath. I get soaked, the room gets soaked, and it's exhausting. Maybe tomorrow. It's raining, anyway. Seems like a waste, lol. Or maybe I should head outside with some doggie shampoo…
Yeah, outside baths sounds like the best idea. Maybe you can find a biodegradable shampoo and can give her a bath in the lake lol.
OMD! Adorable. Love your pup stories; Szuka's grown up to be a great looking Komondor. And that Puli, what a cutie!