Ripley the water dog

Who knew? Ripley is a swimmer, as well as a walker, sniffer, and wet kisser.

Today, I witnessed something he did for the first time yesterday, while I was gone. And, that first time swimming was more by accident than intent, as he was wading in the grass alongside our pond, and stepped off the "ledge" into the original pond. We've had so much rain lately in Florida that the pond has increased in circumference. My wife told me about his short swim, where he all of a sudden found the ground had dropped out from under him, and he did what comes naturally.

Fast forward 24 hours and we're both walking Ripley, this time around the golf course. We're walking the fairways over on the lake side, and Ripley decides "hey, I think I'll jump in and cool off", and he did. Elizabeth captured this on her phone's camera. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I probably wouldn't have believed it since almost every beagle I'd owned and loved in the past were not fond of water. Heck, some of them would even resist taking a bath, but not this boy. Maybe that's it - five female beagles, all more concerned with their hair and makeup. But Ripley is all boy, and it's like when he discovered his "inner beagle" at the dog park, where before he hardly ever barked and howled like breed standard. But even when dog paddling, he held his white tail straight up, like a flag.

This dog is full of surprises, and willing to try anything it would appear. You'll note the leash in each picture - that's because he probably would try everything, and having run from his original home, we're not taking chances.