For the longest time, I thought all Golden Retrievers liked to swim. Many Retrievers later, I have learned that this is not true. In fact, a few of ours have absolutely detested the water. Our first retriever, Sam, was the Michael Phelps(or Mark Spitz if you are of a certain age) of the water dog world. When we first brought him home from the shelter, this was a couple of years before GRRSN was formed, he was happy to swim laps with me, paddle around our son, or sit on the stairs in the shallow end with Dad. Then Sam discovered "aqua-fetching." Throw the ball, swim and retrieve...throw the ball, swim and retrieve. This could go on for hours; my arm gets tired just talking about it! We loved that Sam was delighted to be in the pool with us. This was good for us, but apparently not good enough for Sam, for he soon realized that he could get in the pool without us.

Sam's solo H₂O exploits quickly earned him the title, "Stealth Dog." He could slip into the big, blue puddle without making a sound and swim as silently as any nuclear submarine. The next thing we knew, he would be racing madly, soaking wet, through the garden. If people were around, even better -- a great chance to show off his clandestine skills! Have the neighbors over for a BBQ? Well, who wouldn't enjoy 90 pounds of soaking wet Retriever leaning against them? Enjoying morning coffee in your p.j.'s while relishing the quiet of the garden? Of course you'd appreciate having a great big, soggy head placed in your lap...besides, you needed to get dressed anyway! His absolute favorite thing to do was to stand in front of our glass French doors and shake like crazy. I am convinced that Sam did this just to annoy me. You could almost hear him laughing as he raced past my kitchen window just at the time he knew I'd be there.  Thus began the war of the windows or rather, window washing -- a battle I would never completely win, and now often miss fighting.

Our second Retriever, Tessa, also enjoyed the water. While not on the same Olympian plateau as Sam, she enjoyed a good paddle. She would often stand on the steps and cheer on Sam's aqua exploits from her watery platform. Tessa, being a lady, however, would never go into the pool without her human's permission. No uninvited wet dog shenanigans for her.

Tessa lived to be a very old girl and it broke our hearts to see that she could no longer find her footing down the steep steps into the pool. We would lift her in with us and she would stand for a while, but her old-lady legs would get tired and she'd need to get out and have a lie down. She looked hot and unhappy, but wouldn't willingly leave the pool's edge while her family was swimming. It was on such an afternoon that my husband, John, surprised me my saying, "I think we should remodel the pool so there's a spot for Tess to lie down in." He said it so nonchalantly that I was sure I misunderstood. Then, as if to press the point, he added, "You've been saying for years that the pool needs to be redone." 

Some history is required here to fully appreciate the momentousness of the comment. We are the second owners of our home. The pool was already fifteen years old when we moved in. It was dreadful, sort of a poor man's version of "The Tikki Room," complete with a decaying lava rock waterfall rising absurdly from the flat desert floor. To add insult to injury, John is an award winning swimming pool designer. For years I kept saying, "This is embarrassing! What will people think when they see our pool? You create beautiful things for your customers, but your own pool...the pool your family swims in... is beyond dreadful!" Then another tile would fall off or another chunk of the deck would crack, and I'd be off on another rant. John's response was always the same... he was too busy, the customers come first, blah, blah, blah. It was a case of "the shoemaker's children go barefoot." Well, that cobbler's kids may have suffered, but not his Golden Retriever!

Tessa in her fountain.

For Tessa, her Daddy's most beloved girl-dog, all was possible. The magma monstrosity was demolished, replaced by a lovely shallow fountain that splashes water playfully into the pool. John had measured Tessa's shoulder height while she lay down, so that the depth would be right for Retriever lounging. The fountain makes a soothing noise, but not too loud because that would be unpleasant for Tess - a wife could get jealous over all this fuss for a blonde! Tessa would step into her fountain like Cleopatra wading into her royal bath. The other Retrievers who came into our lives shared her watery sanctuary, but none have logged the hours of pure enjoyment that Tessa had. She has been gone many years now, but we still refer to the beautiful water feature as "Tessa's Fountain." A fitting tribute to her - and the lengths a man will go to for a beautiful girl - DOG!

Just a note - John & I would like to feature pictures of dogs swimming on our company website (oracleswimmingpools.com). We are calling the feature "The Water Dog Blog". We'd love to include a picture of your Retriever enjoying a swim. If you have a picture you'd let us share, please send it to me at grrsnvolunteer@yahoo.com   Thanks!