The Continuing Adventures of Jasper the Water Dog

Last night, we took Jasper out for his customary evening romp, which is getting gloppier and muddier by the day as all the snow melts. The air temperature was probably about thirty degrees, so it was feeling very warm to us since much of the winter was spent about forty degrees colder.

Jasper clearly thought that this was just too hot for his fuzzy winter coat. On our way home, he bounded down the slope to the creek. At first, I thought he was just going to get a drink, and both of us started calling him back up to the bike path. Then his front paws were in, then the back ones, and then, tail wagging madly, he continued to stroll on in to the rushing water until it was covering virtually his whole body.

The water, naturally, is snowmelt, so had to be at about thirty-three degrees. But there was Jasper, happy as a clam, nose and tail (still wagging) out of the water, enjoying an almost-springtime bath.

After a few seconds, he finally minded our calls (which were slightly muffled by laughter at this point) and trotted up to join us on the path. I leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the flying water as he shook himself off and continued on home, completely unfazed.