A tired dog is a submissive dog

First of all, let me be clear - Jeff and I did not decide to go running with Autumn. We definitely learned our lesson last time.

But, we did go running with Autumn.

Let me explain!

Autumn has been freaky recently. Just really really excited/enthusiastic/boisterous recently. Driving us crazy.

So Monday, we decided to take her to the park so she could run around. When we got there, some people were having a cookout (it was Labor Day, after all) and we knew that if we let her off leash, she'd make a beeline for the nearest hot dog.

Bad idea.

So we went walking on the trails instead. We eventually got to a trail that led down right by the creek and there were people out there letting their dogs swim.

We've been positive for some time that Autumn is an awesome swimmer. As sure as you can be about a dog who has never been swimming. It's just that she's a strong dog and has these amazing webbed feet. And what do we have here? Some water! For dogs to swim in!

It took her a while to build up the courage to get in. She'd wade in a bit and then back up. But the other dogs were having too much fun and the tennis ball got thrown in the water one too many times and she finally went for it.

And she rocked.

We were right. I want to say that. WE WERE RIGHT. She's an amazing swimmer. And she loved it. When she'd go in to get the ball, she'd grab it and then look around for what else she could get. She'd see a leaf and swim over to it and tag it with her nose (she didn't usually eat them because she usually had the ball in her mouth) and then she'd swim over to something else.

And she swam and swam.

She finally decided she didn't want to swim anymore, she just wanted to eat the tennis ball, so she got out and sat down with the ball and started chewing. Also, she started shivering. It was only in the 70s so she got cold quick.

Rather than just let her chew and eat the ball, we decided to head back. She was SO GOOD on the walk. Tired dogs are awesome. Eventually I suggested that we see how she did running, since she was already pretty worn out and she did great. Also, since she still had the ball in her mouth, she wasn't too interested in eating anything else, which, as you'll recall, was part of the problem last time.

So that's the secret to going running with Autumn. Take her swimming for about half an hour first. And then put a ball in her mouth. She'll do great.