Welcoming Riggs!!!

JODIE: Hello all! We have a visitor this week and we've been looking forward to seeing him again for quite some time.

COCO: Yeah, but he can't dive.

JODIE: Coco, please shut your cookie trap for a little while. We'll get to the swimming later.

COCO: But he can't dive!

JODIE: Coco, HUSH!!!  Now, I'll continue. We met Riggs a couple of years ago on our way back from Alaska and spent an afternoon with him at a dog park in Missouri. I guess he wasn't fully grown back then because he has grown a LOT bigger since then. You will notice that he is a very handsome specimen.




Riggs, the wonder dog! Running around the pool with his favorite toy.

SANDY: I didn't know Riggs until he showed up on Friday. There was a lot of sniffing and such and we all got along pretty well, but I had to snap at him once when he was over doing the sniffing thing. That can be such a problem with males, but he got the message and we coexist in peace.

COCO: Still.....he can NOT dive!

JODIE: Coco, you can be a real pain in the butt!!! OK, lets address Riggs as a water dog. First of all, he has never seen a swimming pool until Friday and he's used to a pond where the water gradually gets deeper. Second, the water in the pond is not as clear as the pool, so he can't see how deep it is. Third, although he can't dive, (and you are the ONLY one who can), he can swim circles around you.

COCO: So what, he can swim in circles.........

JODIE: You're getting on my nerves, Coco. That's an expression. It means that he can swim much faster than you can.

SANDY: And he can swim much faster than I can, and I used to be the fastest swimmer in the family. And he's handsome.

 

JODIE: And, besides Dad, he's the only one who plays Tug with me.



Here's Riggs cruising back to the steps with his toy



JODIE: Here I am trying to tease him into playing Tug with me again



SANDY: I was having fun by myself chasing my favorite ball when Mom would throw it in the pool



COCO: Hey, Riggs!!! This is the way a REAL dog jumps off the side of the pool!! HA HA.

JODIE: My apologies to Riggs and our readers. Coco can be such a ...........well........such a jerk sometimes. Yes, she can jump off the side of the pool and yes she can dive to the SHALLOW end of the pool to retrieve toys. But, she cannot swim as fast as Riggs, she's not as sweet as Sandy, and she certainly is not as smart as I am. Riggs will be here a while longer, so we'll see just how fast he learns. He is much bigger that Sandy, Coco, or me, but he is really a well behaved, mild mannered gentleman and it's nice having him around.