Henry's swim camp is all about fetching. We have lots of toys that float, but his favorite is an orange lobster. I think he likes it because it is easy to grab out the water and easy for him to hold in his mouth.
Henry's routine is to stand on the first step and wait for someone to throw the lobster. He then jumps from the step and is off to fetch the lobster. Once he wrangles up the toy, he swims back to the step and jumps out of the pool with his catch to take a little break. Once he is rested, we throw the lobster back into the pool and Henry happily fetches it again.
Out of the 3, Henry gets in the most swimming because he actually swims up and back the whole length of the pool. Unless someone throws the lobster short
Henry has also mastered pushing off the edge of the pool to gain momentum when turning around to swim back to the step. You can get a good look at his turns in the video
Despite being a land lover, Benjamin is a very good swimmer. Rather than swimming laps, Benjamin prefers to swim circles. This completely makes sense for him because when he gets excited on dry ground he runs circles around everything. The coffee table, the bench in the yard, the sofa. Since circles come naturally to him we don't insist that he swim a more traditional lap.
Benjamin starts standing on the first step. And then he jumps. Yes, he jumps just like Henry. It took him a while to work up to it, but now he just leaps into the water. Watching him jump in makes me one proud momma.
Once he pops back up after his dive, he starts his circle. He swims one big circle and then heads back to the step. Once on the step he promptly jumps out of the pool and then runs a circle around the table on the lanai. I guess you could say that he prefers cross training. Perhaps, we could teach him how to ride a bike and then he could be a triathlete?
After a little rest, it is back to the step and then Benjamin begins his circle routine again.
Little Luna would get the camp's 'Most Improved' award. Not because her swimming has improved, her swimming skills have always been stellar, but because her fear of the water has decreased tremendously.
Luna's normal swim camp routine is to be carried to the far end of the pool and then swim to the step at the other end of the pool. At first she didn't want to leave her camp counselor accompanying her in the deep end. You would put her down and she would just circle you. So we started swimming to the step and she happily followed. After doing that a few times, she figured out how to swim to the step all on her own and no longer needed to be escorted.
And when she is swimming to the step, she is a woman on a mission.
And then she gets to take a little break on the step before she does another lap.
In our quest slim down the pugs we have brought back swim camp (more here as well). Swimming is not only great exercise for the pugs, but it is pretty much the only way they can exert themselves during the summer. The risk of them overheating is still there, but soaking their bodies in cool, pool water does a lot in helping to regulate their body temperatures.
To avoid shenanigans, we changed things up and the pugs now attend individual swim camp sessions. Which means, swim camp is a two camp counselor event. One person conducts swim camp while the other keeps the other two pugs occupied and away from the pool area.
A swim camp session lasts a total of 10 minutes. Each one of the pugs likes to spend their time doing different things, but the goal is to get in as much swimming as possible. They swim a bit, take a break, then swim a bit more. Repeat this process for ten minutes and then you have a swim camp session.
While one pug is at swim camp the other pugs do various things to pass the time. Depending on the time of day, they may go for a little walk, or they may assist in pulling weeds from the garden. Sometimes, we just sit under a tree in the front yard and enjoy the shade.
Completing 3 swim camp sessions takes about 45 minutes. Even though there is only 30 minutes of swimming, the exchange and suiting the pugs up takes time (life vests/harness). We try to do swim camp 3 times a week. That frequency seems to work well for the pugs. It keeps them from getting over exhausted.
This weekend, the pugs hosted media day at swim camp so I was able to get some pictures and take some underwater video. I was going to tell you about one of the pug's swim camp adventures each day this week, but I thought it would be more fun if I let you decide the order. So tell me, which pug would you like to hear about first? Although, I'm pretty sure I know your answer
The bin sits near a door, which gets lots of morning sun and despite being in the AC and having the sunlight reflect through the glass door, Luna gets overheated. She tried to tough it out at first, but she found it pretty hard to get any sleep while panting.
So she packed up camp and moved to a dog bed at the other side of the office that doesn't get any of the sun's rays. Oddly enough, though, on this new dog bed she always lays with her back up against the wall.
The last few days have been extremely hot and that means the pugs have been checking in on the outside world from the comfort of the couch in the air conditioned house. Barking at all that pass seems to be quite fun for them. Of course, I would prefer if they brought the barking down a notch, but they have to fill their days with something, I guess.
Luna prefers to spy on the outside world from ground level. I caught a shot of her in mid bark. I just love how her normally bulging eyes are extra bulgy in the photo. Get 'em girl!
