W oof! I’m not the crazy pup that I used to be. I’m almost 49-years old in two-legger years, so I don’t get crazy like I used to when I was younger. Well…maybe there’s one time of the day that I still feel like a pup again. Read on…

You see, when I came home to live with my two-legged pack-family, the first thing my two-legged pack-dad did was drop me into the lake. I had never seen a lake before. There was white stuff on the ground so the water was very cold. It scared me, so I climbed right back out!

Then…splash! My two-legged pack-dad picked me up and dropped me in the lake again! In the meantime, my four-legged brother, Charlie, was swimming circles and waiting for me. You may remember Charlie. He was my best friend, but he went away awhile ago and I haven’t seen him since. I really miss him.

Anyway, it was so cold and it scared me and it just wasn’t what I was used to back with my four-legged milk mom and litter mates, so I crawled right back out. Believe it or not, my pack-dad dropped me in again! At this point, Charlie swam over and started swimming circles around me. I started running with my little feet and that made me stay on top of the water. All of a sudden it was kind of interesting… almost fun. Okay….I admit it…..I loved it!

‘Fast forward to today. I swim in my lake every single day. My pack-family calls my swim time, “Beau’s Throws”. Usually my two-legged pack-dad takes me for my throws. Sometimes my pack-mom takes me or my two-legger, Uncle Matt, takes me. I’m happy to have anyone join me in my throws of passion!

So, as I was saying earlier, sometimes I get a little crazy like I’m almost a puppy again. Most of the time it only happens when it’s time for my throws. I know that after our long nighttime sleep, my breakfast in the morning and my long afternoon nap it’s time to start following my pack-dad around and trying to stare into his eyes. (That’s the way I tell him that it’s time for my throws. If he turns his back on me, I just walk around him, sit down and stare at his eyes again. Works every time.)

When my pack-dad says, “Are you ready to go?”, I have to admit I might screech a little bit at times. It’s hard not to! We go to the back door and I wait for him to slide it open. Half the time I hit my face on it because he’s not opening the door fast enough!

Usually, whoever is taking me out will throw the red stick into the water. I jump in, fetch it and then climb up the steps, go back out onto the boathouse and give them to a two-legger. When there’s more than one two-legger at my throws, I usually take turns giving it to each two-legger so they can have fun too!

Every day I look forward to my time. I get a running start, streak down the steps, onto the boathouse and then I leap as far as I can into my favorite place in the world, Lake Anna.

(Interpreter’s note: Beau originally came home to the lake on December 23rd, so the water was a tad chilly. These days, he usually swims and fetches in the lake an hour a day – year-round. It definitely is his passion.)

Jim McCoy