Santa gave Ellie a dog PFD
Not sure if Ellie was all that excited about opening up her Santa gift at Christmas. It was a dog PFD from Salus giftguide I’d be embarrassed too if I was a dog breed (Springer Spaniel) known for their swimming abilities and not be able to swim. On a previous blog I wrote how I discovered that our new dog couldn’t swim. She sank like a rock. But I’m sure she’ll appreciate the doggy life jacket it the next time we go paddling,
Never a dull moment with Ellie around. She’s five and was a kennel dog, used extensively for breeding, which makes her darn anxious with a lot of things. Other dogs freak her out, other people freak her out, and cats scare her to death. We were given a two week trial period with Ellie when we agreed to take her from the breeder. A week into it and I was about to take her back. Then my daughter, Kyla, gave me a sad look and said “Dad, not everyone’s perfect.” So we still have Ellie.
Ellie is a totally different dog. I’ll give her that. It took me at least two months to stop calling her Bailey — my other Springer who passed away a year ago last week. She’s not Bailey. Not even close. But that’s not a bad thing. Yes, she can’t swim, can’t fetch a stick, can’t even bark (which is very odd) or even find a “lost” trail through the woods as good as Bailey. But boy, can she ever pull a sled. My daughter and I discovered her special talent during the holidays. I harnessed Ellie up to Kyla’s sled during one of our walks in the woods and had her pull her for a change, rather then me — and she loved it. She now literally runs over to the sled and waits to be harnessed up. Interesting! A Springer that can’t swim but pulls a sled better then a husky!
