Jasper learns to swim!

On Sunday morning, we again woke up early and went exploring, this time downstream to find a good swimming place. We found a great place to get down into the water, with a protected little area without much current.

We let Jasper play a little bit of fetch, but then returned to the campground to eat breakfast and pack up our tent and everything else. Then we returned to the same place to see if we could convince Jasper to go just a little further, and actually swim. He's never let his feet leave solid ground before, refusing to leave the comfort of the edge even when there's a stick to fetch. But he's 75% Labrador Retriever, and we felt sure he could do it.

The river was so beautiful.

And then, after a few tries, and much enthusiastic encouragement from all parties, Jasper did it! He left the edge of the river and actually swam in the deeper water. And then he did it again, and again, and again. We were so proud. Afterwards, he was so tired that he slept for the rest of the day and the following day as well.

Jasper learns to swim from B. Avery on Vimeo.

We returned to our car, and drove home, two sleeping children and a snoring dog in the backseat.