I used to think it was pretty funny to say my dog has hydrophobia. It is, actually, the technical name for Rabies.
Rip has a fear of deep water, but she has been vaccinated against rabies.
However, I recently found out that one of the symptoms of rabies is fear of water…. Hence the name.
Go figure.
Lately, Rip has been surprising me. I think it’s due to peer pressure, and keeping up with the other dogs, but yesterday she actually swam out and fetched the ball, for the first time ever!
I even caught the moment on video.
Then after her first attempt, she had to try it again for real. She had been fetching little sticks, just paddling a few strokes, but this was her first attempt to go farther out and get the ball.
Who knew this a dog could learn to swim at age 12!