Progress
Another weekend means another three days in the pool for us. We are making some major progress!
Our dog, Lilo, is a Golden Retriever who does not really retrieve much and she does not swim. Her best friend is my cat, Anna. She’s more cat than dog is what I’m saying. We are working on it. I have undertaken the great effort of luring her into our pool. I will not give up until I succeed at making her a water dog. This takes the kind of excitement and energy that can not really be expressed in words or pictures. It is exhausting! But after working with her for a week, we have made so much progress. She will now slowly get into the pool in order to swim to me for treats and today we had major progress when she decided she’d be willing to swim to fetch her ball, repeatedly. She also finally figured out where exactly to go to get out of the water. Previously she would just swim to the side and cling to the edge in fear. I know we will have hit a home run when she finally does that notorious dog trick of flying into the water after her toys. I think she’s really appreciating being in the water, too. She isn’t really anxious to get out, I’m sure it is such a relief from the heat. Hopefully by the end of summer she’ll be swimming in lakes and oceans like a pro!
In other progress, Addison had a big day today in the pool. She usually does not want to wear her arm floaties and I usually don’t push it because I think they are dangerous* but she was willing to wear them today and was SO happy about the freedom they allowed. She swam all over the pool screaming “I’m coming! I’m swimming! Here I come! I’m swimming to Daddy! I’m swimming to Mama”. She jumped off the side and jumped off our laps. She felt so big and really it helped her feel comfortable in the water. She quickly figured out how to flip front and back and relax in the water so her legs would float up behind her. Really it was crazy to see how much progress she made in just an hour in the pool with those floaties on today. Later she asked to take off the floaties and I knew it was going to be rough. *This is exactly why I think they are dangerous - she got a false sense of ability, security and safety with them on and was too little to understand that without the floaties she also lost all her newfound abilities. I explained over and over that she would just sink without them but she didn’t believe me. She tried over and over to jump off me and swim to Daddy and would just sink. But the progress is that she didn’t freak out! She wanted to keep doing it, over and over. She was really tolerating the water in her face and eyes and was actually swimming back and forth to us a little! I would love to get her really swimming before the summer is over and today was a pretty good start.
This weekend our community pools all opened and we plan to visit those frequently. The benefit to the community pools over the convenience of our own back yard is that the community pools are zero depth which in my experience really helps kids get used to the water and become swimmers faster. I think Addy will really love the zero depth pools. The bigger kids are looking forward to the big water slides and diving boards that we also lack. But I know realistically that we’ll mostly use our backyard pool because it is SO much easier. Who wants to pack up the kids, the snacks, the drinks, the towels, the pool gear, the sunscreen and the suits when you can just run into your own back yard? And even worse, who wants to gather all that stuff up again to go home when we are all sun-tired & soaking wet? Nothing is more of a pain to me than trying to finagle wet kids into car seats without soaking the seat, too. The alternative, changing before we go home, requires even more effort. But I am determined to get use out of the community pools this year. After all, I should get some great photography opportunities and that’ll make all the inconvenience worth it, right?!
June 8th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
You make having a backyard pool sound SO great! Really I think it is just a huge benefit for the kids, being able to swim and play and learn to swim at their own pace. Unfortunately, we didn’t buy the one house we saw that had a pool. Which means if my kids want to swim, we’ll be shlepping to the community pool - hope it’s worth it!
June 8th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Ok, I think you are giving me pool amnesia…kind of like childbirth amnesia? When I was growing up, we had a pool in the backyard, and cleaning it was part of my list of chores. I LOATHED it with every fiber of my being, and swore that when I grew up and bought my own home, there would never be a pool to take care of….ever…. But, you’re really starting to make me rethink this - and the heat is really doing a number on the amnesia. It would be SO NICE to have a pool to lounge around in - especially when Lilly comes home.
I’m so glad Addy is doing so well! What a little fish!
June 9th, 2008 at 2:12 am
Sounds like Adi is making super progress! Gosh, now that winter is finally here (for us) I’m already wishing for the warmth of summer, and the fun of the pool!
June 9th, 2008 at 7:44 am
I soo wish We had a pool in our yard. But our yard is the size of a postage stamp. We have a public pool down the road and Conor said we could head over there to see if I can manage on my own with the girls. I think it is so important at a young age to get used to the water, I mean it took cams a week to go into the ocean!
Ahhh…so jealous, 100+ degrees here, I would die for a swim.
June 9th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
whts zero depth?
June 9th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
zero depth is a pool that starts out at, well, zero inches deep and slopes down to however deep the pool goes. It lets you wade in like a beach. Our pool starts at 3 feet which means Addison can’t touch bottom but in a zero depth pool she can walk in herself.
June 9th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Oh the pool fun sounds like a great deal! I am so jealous!
June 10th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
ahhh….community swimming pools. i’ve spent lots of fun times in our old community pool. we don’t have one here in hawaii…but then again i guess being surrounded by the ocean kind of compensates. but i’m really not a huge ocean person, so there are lots of times i would trade the ocean for a nice pool
AND, We totally have to meet up when you are in michigan! That would be awesome!
June 10th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Don’t you have to be careful about dogs drowning? I always figured they could swim but the people down the street had a tragedy when their dog could not get out. One of our dogs loves to swim and the other two do not. We have to make sure the swimming dog can get in and out OK. He also swallows so much water when he is in, well you can imagine what a mess that makes. He loves to get in but it makes feeding him difficult.
Nicki reply on June 10th, 2008 12:22 pm:
M~ we exercise all the same precautions and strategies with our dog as we do with our kids. Our previous dogs were definitely not swimmers so we had a pool alarm and had to keep on eye on them outdoors. Our current dog is only out in the pool when we are and I think its just as important that dogs that are around water learn water safety as it is for kids which is why we have spent so much time getting our dogs (and kids) water safe.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
The pool with Jackson terrifies me. The kid has no fear. And the pool SHOULD be feared!! The floaties reminded me of my brother growing up - he got all this confidence when he wore goggles and learned to swim with goggles and flippers on. So he wore them until he was about 10 and was CONVINCED he couldn’t swim unless he wore both. What a dork!! Hahaha, but we have some great home videos and pictures to haunt him with now!
June 11th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Our nearby pool is just a rectangular bore, but the next closest public pool is a zero depth pool and we love it! It’s perfect for those afraid of the water and those with no fear. (I have one of both…not sure which is more frustrating!)
July 31st, 2008 at 11:18 am
Yay for Lilo getting in the water!!! Just wanted to see how everyone was doing. I have a golden puppy now that doesn’t like to fetch much and is also a little wary of the pool…but she’s interested, I can tell. She loves to “swim” in her water bowl and play in the hose. Lilo never liked baths much unless they were outside with the hose. Congrats on making progress with her!!