Another one of sorts..My mother used to breed Newfoundland dogs – Big bastard things trained for water rescue; they have webbed feet and tow swimmers or small boats to shore.
I used to as a kid get roped into helping train these dogs by jumping off of a boat and pretending to drown, then my dad would send one of the dogs in to rescue me. They swim out to you put your arms around the dog’s neck and they swim you into shore (as an aside, though you get rescued from drowning the back legs of the dog and its nails cut your stomach to ribbons, I looked like an extra from a horror movie half the time as a kid)
Anyway, each year there’s this event for Newfoundland dogs called the ‘water trials’ where Newfoundland’s from all over the UK come to a park with a lake and the dogs do what they do (they also tow carts full of children a bit like ponies do)
There was one dog called ‘Bosun’ biggest dog I’ve ever seen – more like a bear than a dog, on his back legs he was a good 6 foot standing. Soft sod though, all he ever wanted to do was play or cuddle, anyway he did his stint in the water and the owner tied him to his VW camper van and left him with food and water and went to watch the other dogs..
Some 15 minutes later there was screaming and shouting coming from the parking area.. Turned out that Bosun still wanted to swim and was slowly dragging himself and a VW camper van with the handbrake on out of the parking area and towards the lake..
Luckily the van got stuck fast on a fence or it would have ended up in the water…
(I used to as a kid get roped into helping train these dogs by jumping off of a boat and pretending to drown, then my dad would send one of the dogs in to rescue me. They swim out to you put your arms around the dog’s neck and they swim you into shore (as an aside, though you get rescued from drowning the back legs of the dog and its nails cut your stomach to ribbons, I looked like an extra from a horror movie half the time as a kid)
Anyway, each year there’s this event for Newfoundland dogs called the ‘water trials’ where Newfoundland’s from all over the UK come to a park with a lake and the dogs do what they do (they also tow carts full of children a bit like ponies do)
There was one dog called ‘Bosun’ biggest dog I’ve ever seen – more like a bear than a dog, on his back legs he was a good 6 foot standing. Soft sod though, all he ever wanted to do was play or cuddle, anyway he did his stint in the water and the owner tied him to his VW camper van and left him with food and water and went to watch the other dogs..
Some 15 minutes later there was screaming and shouting coming from the parking area.. Turned out that Bosun still wanted to swim and was slowly dragging himself and a VW camper van with the handbrake on out of the parking area and towards the lake..
Luckily the van got stuck fast on a fence or it would have ended up in the water…
Darryn.R,
Wed 15 Oct 2003, 11:31,
archived)
I'm from Devonand my feet aren't webbed.
Hands are though...
(Hands are though...
notshiny,
Wed 15 Oct 2003, 15:07,
archived)
