Swimming puppy

Sorry I haven't updated this in a while, I've been very busy!

We have a pool and previously we had thought that Aston was too scared to go in the water. We thought that because he is a Spaniel he would enjoy swimming, but he wouldn't enter the pool to try and we didn't want to force him. Last year he would only stand with his front paws on the top step and his back paws still on the side. This year, he has become more brave. He has no problem standing completly on the top step and he occasionally will stand on the second step also. He paws at the water to test its depth and see whether he can stand there without his head going under. He has realized that the second step is as far as he can go without getting out of his depth, so he doesn't advanced past that.

I had friends round in our pool on Sunday and Aston gets very excited when they come over. He was running next to the pool as they were swimming up and down and he was trying to steal the foam noodles. He also tried to catch drops of water in his mouth when he got splashed. One of my friends isn't the best swimmer and splashes a ton when he swims and creates waves in the pool. Aston was leaning over the side, trying to lap up the water from the waves (even though I always yell at him not to because its salt water) and pawing at it. All of a sudden, he was in the pool! I thought that he had fallen in, but my mum was watching and said that he just plunged himself in. He was at the deep end, but thankfully he can instinctively doggy-paddle. He managed to get to the side, but the steps are in the shallow end and of course he can't get up the ladder. Two of my friends managed to lift him out and set him on the side. I thought that he would have been scared, but his tail was wagging and he looked happy enough, if very, very soggy.

He was soaking wet and my parents had to dry him off while I continued to entertain my friends. The house smelled of wet dog for the rest of the day, but Aston seemed to enjoy his brief swim.

If he decides to jump in again, I will have to teach him where the steps are so that he knows how to get out of the pool by himself. We don't have to worry too much because he is never outside with the pool cover open without us being with him. But I'd prefer not to have to jump in fully clothed to rescue him if he decides to have a swim one day.

Birthday Boy!

Today is Aston's first birthday!

New Trick!

Aston has added to his trick repertoire with his ability to guess which hand the treat is in.
I'll put a treat in one of my hands (behind my back where he can't see it) and then put them both out in front of Aston. He'll sniff them both a bit and paw which hand he thinks the treat is in. The majority of the time he's correct and gets the treat as well as a lot of compliments for being a very clever boy. If he picks the wrong hand, I just close it again and let him pick the other one.

Is Aston a genius? Yep.

Limp

Aston has a limp right now. It's his left leg and pretty pronounced, but he doesn't seem to be in any pain and is playing and running about as usual. We've already taken him to the vets and they couldn't see anything wrong, but we've scheduled another appointment for tomorrow because he started limping again.
However, perhaps it's all just a ploy to get more treats?

Dinner Time

Aston is in the kennel right now while we're on holiday, but here's a video of him getting excited for his dinner:



I like his tilted head and big lick of his chops before he runs off into in the kitchen and by his food bowl.

Finding some shade

It gets very hot here in the summer, but Aston found a cool spot to relax in:


We set up the hammock this weekend. Aston was very helpful during the process - he attacked any ties that dared to hang down. After it was all ready he sat down beneath it, apparently not quite understanding the purpose of a hammock. I put him next to Dad when he was lying down in it which was lots of fun for Aston, but strangely not very relaxing for Dad...

Aston was obsessed with this bug for a while...until he killed it

He kept staring and barking at it and occasionally trying to hit it with his paw. He would move around as it advanced and retreated, trying to get a better angle on it. Finally he hit it with his paw one too many times and the little bug was no more. But it was fun while it lasted and we know think that the solution to keeping Aston busy would be to release bugs throughout the house for him to chase...