Before we left Mystic for the weekend, we did want to try to give Hank the opportunity to play in the water. If you live in an urban area, you probably know that it’s tough to find a place to let a dog swim. A waitress at the Somewhere in Time Cafe (if you go, have the Topper egg sandwich… so good!) turned us on to a boat launch where, though not specifically allowed, it was not illegal to bring your dog to swim.

Hank had a great time splashing and running around, but it took a couple of local kids to get him to actually do the doggie paddle. The girl went out into the water, just beyond where Hank could stand and just calmly stared at him, blew bubbles in the water and bobbed up and down. Eventually he realized he just HAD to get to her and figured out he could swim.

Then, we gave her little brother a tennis ball and he threw it in the water so that Hank had to swim to get it. Thanks for the help, guys!

After all of that, he actually slept almost the whole way home in the car. He curled up into the smallest ball you’ve ever seen a 75 lb dog curl into.