Looks Like We're Gonna Have to Jump...!

Sam has come a long way from his first tentative steps in the lake at Dogwood Park to the flying leaps into the pool he takes today. He went from jumping from the pool steps to jumping from the side (onto my head, it may be noted), and now he's progressed to getting a running headstart to his leaps rather than just jumping in from a standstill at the edge.

This has made the pool a deadly place.

No longer are you safe out in the middle. No longer can you float on a raft knowing Sam can't reach you. Now you have to be constantly on alert for the flying 85-pound chocolate lab that could burst in out of nowhere and land on top of you before you can even register the eerie sound of his tags clinking. (That sound has become like the Jaws theme to me--hear it, and you know your doom is imminent.)

Jumping from the pool step

Now you see why I sneak out the back door to get into the pool while Sam's in the garage. It's sheer suicide otherwise. Unless you wear him out with a solid 45 minutes of pool fetch, he will be in your business and on top of your head. He hasn't learned how to dive all the way yet, so you're semi-safe on the bottom. But he just circles you like a shark, knowing you'll have to come up for air sooner or later. And when you do, you are toast.

Humans are NOT landing strips, Sammy.

All of this is good training for dockdiving, though. I've wanted to do dockdiving for a long time, but Thor was too old by the time I learned about it. Sam looks like a promising contender. Now I just have to find a dock!

Jump!


Look how far he landed!