OK, BUDS in human terms stands for Basic Underwater Demolition School, where U.S. Navy SEALS start out their careers. Here we use Beagle Unlimited Daring School, as Ripley has demonstrated all the basics for SEALS - Sea, Air, and Land.Now the water course was known to his friends, and without fail he'll show you what a great swimmer he is, and the land part is evident from the photo of Ripley and two fellow Beagle Scouts digging a foxhole. Until today, nobody believed me when I told them Ripley has mastered the air, or at least ten to twelve feet above the ground. Trust me, he was well over my head (we have film to prove it) and perhaps in over his head too - but he got up there, tried to follow the squirrel higher, then decided discretion was truly the better part of valor, and came back down (head first) the same way he went up. The dog has positraction paws, and a powerful engine that won't quit. This morning, during his early walk, he saw a squirrel go up this tree, and he first stood at the bottom and barked. The squirrel gave him a bit of attitude, and barked back. That was it for Rip, and he decided two could play that game. Up he went, to my surprise, and to Skip (who was ferrying golf carts from the cart barn to the marshaling area). Skip is one of Ripley's buddies at the Longboat Key Club, as is Bernard. Bernie is a tennis gardens employee, not a dog, but certainly a saint. Bernard or Bernie has been on vacation, but perhaps he'll read about Rip in this blog. Ripley loves this particular tree, and I expect him to climb it again from time to time.
Sea, air, and land - our Beagle Scout is no tenderfoot - he's the real deal, a canine SEAL.
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