It’s pretty obvious by now that Axel loves the beach. He also loves mama. So it was a bit odd when Paula borrowed a kayak from some friends and he didn’t want to go. We have a doggy life jacket for him, but for some reason he hopped off right away and just sat on the beach. Paula paddled off.

I busied myself making some scrambled eggs when the neighbor came over a while later. “Your dog is swimming across the bay.” Paula was hundreds of yards away, and in between us and her, a bobbing Axel with life jacket paddling away to catch up. Apparently at some point after she left he changed his mind and had to herd her or something! He had really gone a long way out! Paddlepaddlepaddlepaddle……..

I yelled as loud as I could a few times and eventually Paula turned around to see the eager swimmer on his way to her. She said she could just barely hear the yell, she was quite far away. So she paddled back and hoisted him aboard! The life jacket has a handle on the back that makes that as easy as hoisting a soaking wet 33lb Mini-Aussie can be.

Alls well that ends well, they paddled around together and had a great time. Much dog-napping on the beach followed as we enjoyed a Margarita at “The Hidden Bar”, down a rocky road to a secluded cove. It’s a dog’s life, I guess.