How Toby got his Wag Back

As fish retrievers, swimming is in our blood.  On Sunday our humans went to eat human kibble with their friends at a kennel with a hole in the ground with water, so you can imagine our excitement when we were told that not only were we allowed to swim, but one of the humans that lived there threw yellow fluffy balls into the water for us to fetch. 

 

I have to admit to being a little rusty as I haven’t been swimming since my first lesson last year.  It took a little time for me to get the hang of it, but Talisker’s a good swimmer and gave me some pointers, like use all four feet to paddle and most useful of all, use your tail to steer.  I didn’t learn that last year, but man does it make the whole swimming thing easier.  Eventually Talisker told me it was time to get out of the water and go and check out the human kibble.  I was enjoying myself too much and kept going until Daddy spoiled all my fun and made me join Talisker under the table.

 

When we got back to our kennel I was exhausted and went straight to bed.  That’s why they call it “dog tired.”  The problem happened when I woke up.  I’m always happy to see our humans in the morning and wag my tail enthusiastically to show how much I love them, but it wouldn’t stand up and wag.  Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?  Talisker told me it was my own fault because I didn’t get out of the water when he told me to so had worn my tail out.  The worst bit is that when we had to sit before eating our breakfast, my tail hurt.  Mummy was really mean all day, calling me “Mr Droopy Tail” and Daddy said they should give me one of the little blue treats that humans eat when their tails don’t stand up.

 

Finally Mummy took pity on me and spoke with our Doctor on the talking box who advised giving me one of the treats that Talisker gets when his leg hurts.  I’ve always wondered why he’s so happy when he gets those things and now I understand.  Everything outside the front of our kennel looked much less threatening and didn’t seem to need barking at and the best part of all, my tail stopped hurting and I got my wag back.

Tobermory