An old dog gets her (water) wings: Heather swims again
By Gina Spadafori
July 19, 2008
When Heather was young, she could swim forever. When we lived for a few months in a beach house on the Gulf of Mexico, Heather was wet or damp pretty much all the time. (Pictured: Young Heather and Ben (now at the Bridge) on the beach at Alligator Point, Fla., in January of 2001.)
But last summer, at the age of 10, she got out a little farther than was safe for an old dog and almost got herself into the kind of trouble that could have led to her drowning. It was a very close call, and I couldn’t bear the thought of standing helplessly by while she slipped under the water for good. This summer, at the age of 11, Heather has been left out of the river runs. She’d sink sadly into her bed and look away while I whistled up the two younger dogs and took off for the beach.
It was breaking both of our hearts.
But my friend Alyce, who owns Heather’s brother Bogey, had the brilliant idea to get Bogey a life vest. She said Bogey quickly figured out that he could just sort of bob in the water with the vest to hold him up, and paddle to get where he wanted. It was a complete success, so I ordered the same model from Cabela’s for Heather, too.
It’s the best $50 I have ever spent on any pet-related item. Like her brother, Heather soon figured out that the jacket would keep her on the top of the water, allowing her to swim with little effort, and to rest when she needed to. Her joy at being back in the water, and at being able to swim without getting quickly exhausted, was obvious and contagious. My friend Don, who with his dogs always meets us for these river runs, could not get over the change in Heather.
A buzz cut and a life jacket, and she’s a new dog.
There’s nothing like a happy old dog. Check it out for yourself and see if her grin doesn’t make you grin, too:
We also had a similar scare with our old golden sometime back. At the time he was returning a dead bird from the water. I was already emptying my pockets ready to enter the water when I got him to leave the bird which helped him get to the beach.
After that we got him a life vest and it was great. It also helped us hold him in place while he was treading water to keep his muscles in shape. He was after all a golden (lazy) and not a flatcoat (eternally ready to roll).
The life vest also works to draw attention to a black dog when hunting during dusk or dawn - some added protection from trigger-happy hunters :)
Comment by ramin — July 19, 2008 @ 10:42 am
Love it!
Comment by nancy freedman-smith — July 19, 2008 @ 4:05 pm
Heather looks SO happy. What a nice thing you did for her. Old dogs are very special. :)
Comment by ruth ellen — July 19, 2008 @ 4:13 pm
I told my vet about how shocked my Lab was to find out that he could swim (he was an adult rescue and seemed to never have been near enough water to find out before). My vet was pleased to hear it…but more pleased to hear that I had also bought him a life jacket (this one - http://www.ruffwear.com/K-9-Float-Coat-trade because I liked the floatation bits underneath the dog, too) for his swimming adventures.
Turns out that as a vet student, she saw two dogs drown in a lake - they were all out having fun when two of the dogs decided to go after some ducks…the dogs got exhausted and the people couldn’t get to them in time.
Comment by mikken — July 19, 2008 @ 5:14 pm
What a happy girl! I am so happy she has a new lease on life and will be able to enjoy many adventures to come.
As a lab owner, it makes my heart sing :)
Comment by Saint Lover — July 19, 2008 @ 6:31 pm
Great video! She looks very happy. Thanks for sharing a fabulous idea.
Comment by Marie — July 19, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
Queen Heather, you look stunning in your tres chic swimsuit! And that beautiful smile! It’s thrilling that you are able to do once again what you love best! (The image of your determined search for the back door to the beach will remain indelible in my mind forever!)
Comment by Nadine L. — July 19, 2008 @ 8:50 pm
Thank you so much for posting this! I’ve been thinking about getting a vest for my dog, but the only one I saw locally was about $85. I never thought to check Cabela’s. I also really appreciate the video. I wasn’t sure if he’d really be able to swim while wearing the vest, so it’s really nice to see that the vest doesn’t impede swimming at all.
Comment by peacefully evyl — July 19, 2008 @ 9:23 pm
Wonderful video and post! I have a standard rat terrier rescue who discovered that he loves the water this summer, but he isn’t a good swimmer at all. I ordered him a life vest, and I’m anxiously awaiting its arrival! I was so surprised earlier this summer when we were out at the lake with our 3 dogs, and he literally launched himself into the water. Now when we go to the lake, he gets so excited and can’t wait to get in, but he looks so awkward (thrashing around)unlike my bird dog, who swims with amazing agility and grace. I am hoping a life vest will help him to not thrash around so much.
Comment by Sara Jo — July 20, 2008 @ 5:42 am
Great tip, I had not come across these before.
Thanks.
Comment by petmemorialworld — July 20, 2008 @ 6:04 am
Gina, my daughter (she’s 3) just watched the video. She said, “Mommy, that doggy has a life jacket floaty just like me!”
Did Heather crash that night after her swim or what?? :) Glad you all got to share fun times again.
Thanks for the video.
Comment by Sharon H — July 20, 2008 @ 7:19 am
Yay for lifejackets! Our girl has one since she is certainly not made for swimming (what with those short corgi legs), and since she loves coming with us into the Boundary Waters for some canoeing. Tipping over in the middle of a big lake would be difficult enough for a water-loving dog to handle, much less our swimming-challenged Winnie. I’m always a little surprised to see how many dogs go boating without a lifejacket on…
http://img.photobucket.com/alb.....nie055.jpg
Comment by Megan — July 20, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
What I like best about the video (I mean beside’s Heather’s wonderful and familiar grin!) is her almost complete disregard to Mom’s calls to come in until she is darn good and ready….long live the Queen
Comment by Katie Bruesewitz — July 21, 2008 @ 8:01 am
Note to readers: Katie and her husband shared their lives with Heather’s darling sister Cali, who just recently passed away.
The two sisters were VERY much alike, especially with regard to attitude: They both believed themselves to be in utterly charge of absolutely everything.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — July 21, 2008 @ 8:11 am
Katie, I am sorry for your loss of Cali.
It is tough to lose a companion animal—a lot of times it seems like he or she are a personality instead of animal. That is the way I see it and once in a while would call my cat by my daughter’s name—right in front of my daughter.
I was embarrassed, to say the least. My daughter would just smile.
Cali and Brandy are out of pain now, and probably looking out for us from way up there.
Comment by Colorado Transplant — July 21, 2008 @ 12:36 pm
that just about brought tears to my eyes.
that was wonderful. :)
Comment by Brooke — July 25, 2008 @ 10:48 pm