Tahnee, being a Black Labrador, loves to swim. Last summer we spent many days at the river while she swam with some of her dog friends. She would play fetch with a stick and could not get enough of swimming in the cool river.
Summer 2010, Tahn swimming in the river
I’ve been looking forward to take Tahn to the river all spring. Since it’s been a cold spring and now a super hot summer, it wasn’t until the last few weeks that it was actually warm enough to take her to the river. Unfortunately, the river is currently closed for swimming because the water is too high and fast. So, I decided to take her to the lake.
My dad drove to Sacramento to partake in said outing. He’s seen pictures and videos of Tahnee swimming, but never in real life. We were pretty excited. Watching Tahn swim is one of my favorite things to do. (Because she’s so dang cute!)
We drove about 40 minutes to the lake and paid the $10 fee to park. (Yes, $10 people). We got to the beach, and saw a huge sign No Dogs on the Beach. Well crap. What were we going to do? I decided to ask the men selling food if there was a place for dogs on the beach. (Everyone told me they took their dogs to the lake, I couldn’t believe we paid $10 and were going to turn around a go home…)
Fortunately, they instructed me to take my dog down the beach a ways where dogs were allowed. When we got to the “dog area” there were many dogs there and I could just hear Tahnee saying, “Doooogggg Paaaarrrrk!”
We let Tahn off her leash and she started to mill around in the water. A few other Labrador mixes joined her. It was nice. Then, the following happened. The best way to tell this story is to tell it with the time, so here it goes:
- 12:30pm – Arrive at lake.
- 12:35pm – Find No Dogs on the Beach sign.
- 12:40pm – Arrive at the “dog area”.
- 12:41pm – Let Tahn off the leash.
- 12:42pm – I call Tahn to come back to the area we were at, away from the fisherman.
- 12:42:30pm – I walk over to Tahn, and drag her back.
- 12:43pm – Tahn goes over to another group of people, starts pestering them. My dad calls her.
- 12:43:15pm – My dad gets Tahn and drags her back.
- 12:44pm – Tahn starts playing in the water. She’s chasing the other dog, even goes after two sticks.
- 12:46pm – Tahn goes nearby a group of people without a dog. My dad calls her.
- 12:46:05pm – My dad drags her back.
- 12:47pm – Tahn goes in the water again.
- 12:47:50pm – Tahn gets excited, starts running around the beach, and right over the towels of the people with no dogs. (My dad and I are yelling at her a lot by now). (And quick side note: why would you go to the dog area with out a dog? And, get mad at us for having a dog?!)
- 12:48pm – My dad captures Tahn.
- 12:49pm – I put Tahn’s leash on her and we leave.
Oh yes, that’s right. We weren’t even on the beach for 10 minutes before we had to leave because our dog was misbehaving so badly. Tahn was by far the worst dog there. She didn’t come once when we called her. She acted like she couldn’t even hear us.
Now, it is not uncommon for Tahn to ignore not hear me. From time to time, she flat out ignores me doesn’t hear me at all. But Tahn has never, ever once ignored my dad.
Her behavior was beyond embarrassing. We were pretty upset. Not only had my dad drove up an hour and a half to see this, but we drove an additional 40 minutes and paid $10 to have Tahn swim for one minute and disturb everyone on the dog beach.
Back at my apartment. Tahn was sorry for being a bad dog...
When we got back to Sacramento, I decided we should walk to a nearby dog-friendly bar and have a beer.
Tahn was a very good girl at the bar. (Do you see the sand on her nose?)
Then, my dad left and I gave Tahn a bath.
All clean after her bath
Next time, I’ll wait until the river is safe to swim and take Tahn to a secluded place where she cannot bother anyone. (Especially the idiots people sitting in the dog area getting mad at me because my dog ran across their towel. Sorry Lady, I couldn’t stop the bad dog).
BrittanyandTahn 