Enjoying some sprinklers!

Some of you may remember me mentioning a few weeks ago that Koira, while enthusiastic about ponds, pools, and rivers, dislikes hoses and sprinklers. That used to be true.

Early this week, I stopped by the park with the dogs in the late afternoon. We walked for a bit, I picked and ate some ripe blackberries off the vine, and then we ran into an old friend of ours, Lakshmi. Lakshmi is a super friendly mixed breed female dog. We normally see her in the winter, when the playing fields are a large off leash area. This time, however, Lakshmi was playing not with other dogs but with the large sprinklers watering the soccer fields.

I wandered over with Koira in the hopes that Lakshmi could teach her how much fun sprinklers are. It was really hot out, the dogs needed to cool down, and I didn't feel like walking halfway across the park to get down to the river, where the dogs would end up not just wet but sandy and muddy as well.

Koira watched Lakshmi for a while, frogged out in the grass panting. After a while, I got up and wandered closer, encouraging Koira to come along. She was obviously interested in this strange game. Hesitant at first whenever the water hit her, Koira watched her friend playing and gingerly tried it out herself.

By the time we left the park, Koira was confidently playing in the sprinklers alongside Lakshmi.

She enjoyed it so much, I returned there last night when our flyball class was canceled due to the heat. Lakshmi's owner had let me know the sprinklers came on at 7:30 every night. (Which brings me to an apology for the amount of noise in this pictures, due to the low lighting of shooting in the evening. But they were cute despite the low quality, so I had to share anyway.)


Koira sized up her opponent.

. Then, with a little encouragement, she went to town on it!

Pallo was a bit less than thrilled at the sprinklers though.

Koira did a full frontal attack, taking a shot in the mouth.

The spray was hard, but she was determined.

SHE WOULD WIN!

A brief break, to reassess the situation and take a fast breather.

Then another attack!

This sideways-bite seemed the most effective for preventing water from getting up her nose.

Pallo watched from the background, baffled at this strange obsession.

The spray of water was mocking her, so she mocked it right back

So she pulled out her pearly whites and showed it some business!

Koira ended up totally soaked and tired by the time we headed back to the car. It was a great way to cool down from a super hot week, and she had a blast. Poor Pallo was a little offended at this very unexciting trip to the park, however.

I love how dogs learn from each other. A week ago, Koira would have gone no where near the sprinklers, and in fact would have avoided them at all costs. But just sitting and watching another dog playing and finding them fun, and now she has a new favorite game. Maybe Pallo will learn it from her?

Now its time for a blog hop!