A fluffy story of our dogs first experience in the ocean

In the spirit of sharing cute fluffiness, as well as to get away from serious subjects, here’s a little story about our dog, Freddy - a six-month old Golden Retriever puppy.

We decided to take Freddy to a BBQ on East Coast Park in Singapore this weekend, to celebrate our great friend Amber’s birthday. It was our first beach outing with Freddy and I’ve got to say, it was delightful.

After everyone settled in, I took him down to the beach with the boys and Freddy absolutely shat himself. Throwing himself back from the waves, almost ripping my arm from its socket, he then decided there was nothing to be done but to bark at the ocean. He wasn’t having any of it, however he did enjoy all of the rubbish on the beach. That was a welcome distraction….

So much rubbish!

It didn’t take too long though and he was in! Awesome work Freddy. But it’s difficult to get the full experience of the ocean when he was required to stay leashed. This is a common requirement in Singapore, as mainstream dog ownership is a very recent thing and culturally, many people just don’t like dogs at all. We have to respect that.

Anyhoo, Sunday morning it was time for Nippers in Singapore – yeah we’re not enjoying those early Sunday morning wake-ups let me tell you! But after the misery of getting up, it really is superb being out in nature with the boys, watching them learn a fabulous new skill – surf, lifesaving. ANZA is doing a superb job, as are the incredible volunteers.

Steve and I took it in turns with The Fredster while the boys worked their arses off, all the while keeping Freddy leashed so he wouldn’t jump into the kids’ lessons. A very strong possibility. At one point, I wandered down the beach a bit, away from the lesson and Freddy jumped in. He went out further, and discovered he could swim.

I was rather pleased with this photo - BBQ under a flight path

It was a light-bulb moment for Freddy and I could see a new passion emerge in that instant. He couldn’t get enough of it and fur mumma was feeling super proud of our clever boy.

Class over, kids in the ocean for free time, and Freddy was bloody delighted to be in there with them. The kids weren’t though. Both boys came out covered in scratches as Freddy swam up to them and tried to jump on board. My screaming at them on how to manage the situation was, of course, ignored.

Unfortunately, a little lad (not of my loins) got scratched as well. Sorry, sorry it’s his first swim, I said to the dad, who was more concerned his son would grow up scared of dogs – something he didn’t want to happen. I applaud that.

Steve probably had the best reaction though. His heart was in his mouth the whole time, worried about his little Freddy. I’ve got to tell you, watching a man fall in love with their first dog is a pretty special thing to see. Freddy is definitely Steve’s dog – no doubt about it.

Was that cute and fluffy enough for you?

Yours, without the bollocks

Andrea

Thank you for reading my ramblings. My brain and heart are a work in progress, always. I’d love a comment if it stirred any thoughts or feelings and of course, please feel free to share it with anyone you know who might be interested or entertained. I sure do appreciate it when you do. If you want to connect, I'm on Twitter here, Google+ here, Instagram here, and Facebook too. I share loads of stuff, not just my own xxxxx