Wimzie swims again

Meelyn and Aisling were pining to see Wimzie in freestyle action, so we took her with us (plus some towels) to go pick up my husband from work this evening.

We gathered up my husband, who was also curious, and drove across the parking lot to the pond. There were several adult ducks swimming; three of them took offense to our presence and left precipitously. One remained, however, and as Aisling walked Wimzie around the pond's edge, the duck got out of the water fairly near to where Wimzie was sniffing.

Before Wimzie caught sight of that duck, Aisling had made several abortive efforts to get Wimzie to swim without the temptation of a duck dinner looming invitingly before her. Wimzie had no truck with being placed shoulder-deep in the pond, and splashed back out each time Aisling tried to coax her in, giving Aisli looks of deep disdain.

But then the duck hove into view and Wimzie took off after it like a blue streak. The duck, quacking irritably, went back to the water without any apparent need to hurry, and sailed away. Wimzie plowed into the water and started swimming, accompanied by cheers and laughs from the pond's bank.

The duck was WAY faster than she was. It continued to quack at her, and climbed back out of the water onto the bank at the opposite side of the pond. Wimzie, sensing this new tactic, got back out of the pond and ran lickety-split around the pond, where the duck, laughing at her, hopped back into the water and lazily paddled away.

Not to be deterred, Wimzie plunged back into the water and redoubled her efforts. I think it's safe to say that the duck could have swum circles around her and been in no danger at all, but it was very, very funny to watch. The duck and the dog repeated the out-and-in performance several other times as we cheered from the grass verge. Finally, we were all tired of standing in the hot sun, so I called her and she came surging out of the water and ran to the van.

Unbeknowst to all of us, one of the side doors had been left open, and before we could stop her, Wimzie leaped in and covered the interior with a mighty shake. Nice. Very nice.

That's our Wimzie, the swimmer.