I thought I found such a great place yesterday for walking Maui off-leash: a 2.5 km stretch bordered by a wide canal on one side and weeds, a ditch and fenced pasture on the other. I figured the only problem would be keeping him from jumping the barbed-wire to get to the sheep and cows.
So I drove him over to Dieverbrug this afternoon, parked in the carpool lot by the drawbridge and started walking up the path. Once we'd passed the dogs at the first house and the boat moored nearby, I unhooked him from the leash. He ran around for about a half-kilometer, sniffing around, chasing bugs and whatnot. And then !splash! into the canal. He had a nice little swim and a drink of water until he turned back toward the bank and realized he couldn't get out on his own. (Gosh, maybe that's why I was yelling at him?)
It was a good thing I'd tightened his harness before we left, and better yet that he picked a spot where the ground isn't too high off the water. I flopped down on my belly, grabbed him by the harness and hauled him out.
The damn dog won't jump into the fountain in front of the Michigan League (one foot deep and you can see the bottom), but he'll take a flying leap into a dark canal the first chance he gets. I'm taking him to the vet this evening to get an EU pet passport and won't feel the least bit sorry if the vet shoves a thermometer up his butt.
Maui! LOL
Posted by: Laura | September 19, 2006 at 01:26 PM
I remember once MCH and I took Special and Candi to the Huron River.... the following week, my mom had a pretty big vet bill for some sort of scary skin thing Special picked up from rolling around in the mud. The dog sure had a great day though!
Posted by: Amanda | September 19, 2006 at 10:53 PM