Swimming Lessons

Last weekend we visited the Salzkammergut, a lake region just east of Salzburg. It's a beautiful area with dramatic hillsides sloping steeply down to fresh (and cold!) mountain lakes. Supposedly some of them are quite warm, with microclimates protected by the hills, but we didn't find one of those quite yet. The weather was a bit cool and overcast, but the scenery was still spectacular (here, Pan and Mike admire it).



While Pan had been playing a bit in water before this, it mainly consisted of splashing his paws. I could never get him to go in any deeper than about his elbows. So, we thought this would be a great opportunity to try to encourage him a bit. Mike rowed us out onto Wolfgangsee (see=lake) in an old little rowboat at the hotel. Pan reached out to investigate the strange substance over the edge of the boat, but his curiosity led him a bit too far and there a big SPLASH. Turns out he can swim, though! (For all those concerned about the welfare of their grandpup, Mike did have his swimsuit on in case a rescue was needed.) After letting him swim a couple of paces, we pulled up a wet and somewhat shocked puppy.

The next day was a bit warmer, so we thought we'd try a more conventional approach to introducing the water. Pan was too distracted by the hotel cat (she was quite the tease, and kept sneaking up behind Pan and getting him to chase her) to fetch sticks from the water, so we tried another method. Mike bravely got in the rather chilly lake and lifted Pan from the dock. Just like you would a little baby, he held him in the water, lowering him in slowly, then held on to him while Pan tried another few strokes. Pan definitely has the instinct to swim, but he pretty much looked like we were torturing him all the while. On top of Mike's head seemed like the safest place to be.




This last week in Vienna has been extremely hot, so I think the water has started to sound better and better. As usual, Pan and I played a bit of fetch in the edge of the pond at the park, and the past few days he's gone far enough in to actually swim a tiny bit. Yesterday he even convinced another young puppy, who had previously been scared of the water, to take a swim with him. This afternoon we go out to the lakes again, so we'll see if he's finally ready for a full-on swim.

(For those who are interested, a few more pics from around the Salzkammergut ... )