Wish's first pool party

Okay, if you're friends with me on Facebook, you might have already seen the snapshot.  But I thought it was appropriate to report on the event at Miles and Laurel, as it is one of Wish's firsts - and considering this week's impeding stampeding temperatures, too.

Both before and after we adopted Wish, we read quite a bit about the Keeshond breed. It's almost more fun for me to do that now, especially when certain behaviors get confirmed as breed traits. Several articles have cautioned how hot the Keeshonden can get in the summer - they are, after all, wearing a big fur sweater. A couple of them even noted that many Keeshonden enjoy hopping in a kiddie pool during hot summer days!

I told Josh that, and I think we exchanged dubious looks. This dog - the pup who purposely goes around sprinklers - wants us to buy him a pool?

We were skeptical but couldn't let the idea go, because Wish really does get hot enough outside in the summer that it was worth a try if this might make him more comfortable. Every time we talked about getting a pool, I noted that at least I would use it in the summer, even if Wish didn't, so it wouldn't be a dire waste.

And then yesterday I got this text with a picture, with a little image in the corner that looked like Wish's fur: "Mr. Wish is jumping out of his pool. He's not too sure about it yet."

I scurried home, as anyone who got a message of this nature would, and found a little inflatable pool in the yard. I couldn't wait to see the pup in action.

Well, lack of action.  It took a couple of treats to lure Wish into the pool with me.  I think he did hop into the pool once on his own (sans treats) and he did just stand in there peacefully for a few minutes, which I take as positive signs, even if he wasn't flopping around gleefully and wildly.

I love inventing captions for his expression.

So there's hope yet.  I think there's even a chance he might morph into a pool fanatic as early as tomorrow, when the mercury is predicted to hit 97 degrees. Heck, at least now you'll know where to find me this summer!