[nagdu] Shepherds and the ocean

[Marion & Martin]

Wayne,
    Greetings from the sunchine State, although the sunshine has been of the 
liquid sorts, of late! First of all, I wanted to find out where in our 
beutiful state you will be staying! If somewhere near us, we wouldn't mind 
connecting!
    As for your question about German Shepherds affinity to the water, as a 
afficionado of that breed, all I can say is "It depends!" My current pup 
tolerates the water, at best! I can coax her in and she seems to enjoy the 
swim while in - or perhaps her enjoyment is in the failure to drown - but as 
soon as I stop the coaxing, she is out of there! On the other hand, I had a 
Shepherd that would literally body surf! I once lived on an island in the 
West Palm Beach area where I was on the Intracoastal Waterway and two blocks 
from the Atlantic. My dog, Mike, and I spent a lot of time on the beach. He 
was playing in the surf one day when a larger than usual wave came toward 
him. As he turned to flee the large wall of water toward the beach, the wave 
picked him up and brought him to the shore! He turned and looked at me with 
this startled look on his face as if to say, "What the heck was that all 
about?", then turned back to the Atlantic to give it another try! He would 
paddle around offshore until he found a wave to bring him in! I think I have 
pictures around here of Mike body surfing!
    I hope you enjoy your stay in our fine State! Bring lots of sun screen! 
I personally recommend Coppertone Sport SPF 45! The temps are currently lows 
of mid-70s and highs in the mid-90s. We are getting showers nearly every 
day, but they generally only last for an hour or so! Have a blast!

Fraternally yours,
Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wayne Merritt" <wcmerritt at gmail.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "gsdguides" <gsdguides at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 10:15 PM
Subject: [nagdu] Shepherds and the ocean


> Greetings all. Gucci and I will be traveling to Florida this weekend
> for a family vacation. We'll be staying with my parents, brothers, and
> older brother's family in a large house, which from what I've herd is
> more like a resort. It belongs to a friend of the family. Whenever
> Gucci and I travel to my parent's house in Dallas for holidays and
> such, her eating habits go down. I've learned that since there's more
> activity in a larger space, she feels that she has to explore and
> check things out. When feeding time comes, invariably she won't eat
> all of her food. Often she skips meals altogether. I've learned that i
> have to put her food down, leave for 30 minutes or more, come back and
> if she hasn't eaten, then take her out like normal and then just wait
> till the next mealtime. She'll likely spend much of next week on a
> bedchain or leash given the new environment, the niece and nephews
> running around, and the increasing amount of activity. So, my
> questions are these:
>
> 1. How can I get her more comfortable with the environment?
> 2. What should I know when taking her to the beach and the ocean, or
> do sheperds even like to get in the ocean and on the beach? I know
> most Labs love the water, but I don't know about shepherds?
>
> I think I know how to make her more comfortable with things, but want
> to see what others have to say on this type of situation. If things go
> well, we might get this opportunity for the next few years, of going
> to the beach house that is.
>
> Many thanks as always,
> Wayne & Gucci
>
> -- 
> My blog:
> http://wayneism.blogspot.com
> My websites:
> www.wayneism.com
> www.whitecaneday.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
> nagdu:
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/swampfox1833%40verizon.net