Thursday, July 29, 2010

A Pool For Lucy, And Giggles For Her Human

As of Sunday afternoon, the scum pond is officially closed! After locking my keys in the car and getting soaked in pouring down rain while loading 4 pieces of cut plywood into the trunk of my car- we have a permanant solution. (My car is just not meant for these kinds of projects!) I even covered the plywood with some of the decorative rocks floating around our garden to make it look a little appealing. But, the main point here is- there is no pond for Lucy to play in- no more dirty kitchen floor. No more ruined clothes, no more daily baths for the boxer baby!

I have been feeling extremely guilty over the erasure of the scum pond from Lucy's life. I'm not sure in all honesty that she really misses it, I just know that when she used to play in the back yard, she would submerse herself in that scummy, smelly, disgusting water to cool herself down and before yesterday, there was no where else for her to do that. I've been hosing her off when she's outside playing, but I don't think it's the same thing. (And as I mentioned, there is the issue of my guilt...)

So yesterday afternoon, I called around trying to find a kiddie pool for Lucy! It took 3 phone calls (and my getting very agitated over long hold times, and criminally long pre-recorded messages) but I finally found one.

As I have said before, I hate Petsmart- but that's where we found the pool, so that's where we had to go. I needed to return the Gentle Leader anyway, so I killed two birds with one stone.

Let me just say for the 2nd time- I am unimpressed with the staff at Petsmart. Clearly the people working there just needed a job, and aren't really that enamored by pets. How can you meet my little boxer and remain completely emotionless? It just doesn't make sense- unless you don't like pets!

We got the pool- and I was very happy that it even fit in my trunk without any pushing down of seats or squishing of the pool, which was a concern, and headed home to fill it up. Lucy kept looking at me like I had lost my mind.

"Are you sure yous know whats your doin, Ma?"

Of course, Lucy was a big help filling the pool, even though I don't think she had a lot of faith that I had the situation all under control. I couldn't wait to get it full and see what she would do. There was some initial hesitation, and the pool was filled for about an hour before Lucy put all 4 of her delicate little paws into the pool! I was starting to get concerned when I noticed that she only seemed interested in putting 2 paws in, and she was hesitant about that!

"Come on, Lucy! Entertain me!"

Once I tossed a ball into the pool, I had Lucy's undivided attention. For 10 minutes Lucy ran circles around the perimeter of the pool trying to get the ball out.

Finally, Lucy figured out that the only way she was going to get the ball was to get in the pool and pull it out. I had fun watching her get all wet!
" I gots da ball, Ma! Now what? Don'ts you tell me yous is gonna throw it back in der."

"My hooman is nutty! Looks at all dis stuff she threw in da pool! I's guess I better get it all out of here! You makes so much work for me, Ma!"

"I's guess da only option, is to sticks my entire head in here!"


"Okay, Ma! All da toys are out of da pool, I'm ready to be dried off!"

23 comments:

  1. This is so cute! I have to tell you my pup Thomas would not get anywhere near the pool, don't know why, he'll go into the lake, but not the pool!

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  2. My Texas dogs love their pool!! I love the dog specific pool you got, I just use a normal kids plastic pool.

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  3. Adorable! When I was younger I had a toy fox terrier - she'd never get in the kiddie pool, but if you threw a toy in there she'd dunk her head over and over, like an endless game of bobbing for apples. :)

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  4. I was coming here to tell you I got the one for my bulldog pup for $10 at walmart but i see you found one already! Stella was hesitate too but as you could see from the video, she really good use out of it now! thanks for stopping by and super cute boxer :)

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  5. That's adorable. I'm glad you found a way to keep Lucy cool and your house clean! I keep saying I'm going to buy one for Marge, but it's going to take a LOT of work to get her to go in to it! My previous attempts haven't been successful...

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  6. I so enjoy seeing the pics of Lucy and her adventures. And my Skipper thanks you for the tip about the soup bones. I got some for him that very day and even though he's usually my constant shadow, I didn't see him for almost 5 hours that day. He didn't even want to leave it to go outside for a walk.

    We have a creek and a pond, but a pool would save me a lot of bathing and cleaning time.

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  7. Oh wow Lucy, you look like you had fun! I bought a big ball for Minnie, but she doesn't love it like you do! I hope she'll learn to play with it!!

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  8. Lucy Lou,

    You has a pool.....and you gets in it! I am not showing this to my mom cuz she will say to me "Lucy will go in her pool why won't you go in yours?" ;) Have fun!

    Woofs and Licks,
    Maggie Mae

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  9. I'm happy Lucy has her very own clean cool doggy pool! Just dippin our paws really helps cool us down :)

    I didn't know it could be even better by laying in it until my new furiend from the doggy park showed me how :)

    Keepin my cool,
    Roo

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  10. Love it...Lucy you would love my dogs!
    http://www.adamsadventures-ourlifeunedited.blogspot.com/

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  11. Ohhh the clean pool is much nicer then that scummy pond! No daily baths eithier!!

    woo woos, Tessa

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  12. Ah yes, we also found our pool at Wal-Mart. I know Pompei loves his pool!

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  13. I got the exact same pool for my spaniel Kelly. She loves to wade and swim at the lake but she wasn't too excited by this pool idea. She eventually went in to get the toys and stood there looking dubious (a far cry from the retrievers you often see sprawled out in kiddie pools, in their element!). Although she may not be a big fan, I could tell she felt more comfortable from the heat after. Did Lucy?

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  14. Hello Lucy! A huge thank you for your pawprint on our guestbook! Your human has kept a great blog with lots of cute photo of YOU!! We love it! We'd love to get to know you more... We'll add your name to our frinds' list. Hope it's ok with you.

    Momo & Pinot

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  15. Marianne, I'm SO glad you found my blog somehow..so now I can follow yours! Lucy is gorgeous, my goodness!!! And I've only looked at the pictures so far...can't wait to start reading! xx

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  16. I don't get how anyone could meet Lucy and remain emotionless too! I'd be all over her giving her cuddles and kisses.

    I love the bones on the bottom of the pool. I've wondered how my boys would react to having one in the backyard but haven't gotten one for them. They don't like baths so I'm not sure if they'd like a pool or not. Glad to see Lucy is enjoying hers.

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  17. Bunny loves the pool, too! She spends a lot of time digging water in there. Lucy sure looks like she's having fun!

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  18. Sounds like fun! We recently went to a doggie social that had a pool party portion. We dropped treats into the pool to get the less experienced pool pups excited. Some of the treats floated and some sunk, that way they learned to dunk their heads. It was a lot of fun and our Lucy now loves her kiddie pool!

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  19. Pools are pawesome!
    I have mine and I enjoy refreshing my butt in there!
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  20. Lucy looks like she is having so much fun!!! :) Much cleaner fun than in a scummy pond too!!!

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  21. We liked our pool too. It tasted very yummy...

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  22. I won't swim in our pool either. Not sure why. I love the pond. I fell in a couple of weeks ago and it might be for the best I don't like it because I got a rash and some bumps (now gone away)so I might be allergic. I have a reputation for chasing sticks but I won't even go in the pool for a stick. But if there was no pond .... hmmm I'd have to think about it.

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