So, tonight I lost my old dog in a pond.

I mean, not that she drowned or anything... just that she swam away and would. NOT. Swim. Back.

For like an hour.

Gidget is nearly 13, and swimming is her favorite thing. Which is weird, because (being a pit bull) she is also as buoyant as a cinderblock.

So I got her a life vest. We just added a loop of pipe insulation around the neck, to keep her face out of the water. It's made her brave.

So we took her to the nearest pond, and she took the hell off. Straight to the far side of the damn water. Where she swam in circles, barking incessantly, and completely ignoring me.

Matt finally went home to get the canoe, figuring that was the only way we could retrieve her.

People on the other side of the pond were getting annoyed. I don't blame them. The barking was constant.

I kept throwing rocks in the water, trying to catch her attention. But her eyesight isn't the best. I'm not sure she could see the splashes.

But then she looked my way...

And I clapped my hands above my head, and used my stupid happy dog voice, and splashed in the water's edge...

...and only had to scream at her twice when her attention wandered and she started to turn away...

And finally after an hour of wondering if the life vest would still keep her face out of the water if she collapsed from exhaustion, and only having to wade into the water up to my knees to finally grab her, I hauled her ass back on shore.

And she proceeded to try to pull my arm off to get back in the water, while we waited for Matt to get back with the canoe (and the truck).

Next time we're attaching a nice long piece of 550 cord to the life vest, and tying her to a tree or something.

OK, after this thread I feel like I need to share video of what Gidget normally does in the water, which is: bark incessantly and swim in circles close to shore.

This is why her swimming immediately for the far side of the other pond was a surprise we were not prepared for.