On Becoming a Lab

Murphy came pre-loaded.  Like a computer where you remove it from the box, connect the power cord, hit the on button and voila, a computer, Murph was all lab all the time from the moment she laid in my arms on the drive home from Washington, DC.  

Sage.  Well, I had to teach Sage how to be a lab.  While she still has her quirks, she takes to water and does retrieve.  Of course, she retrieves and keeps.  She is a catch and keep girl.

I was a little worried I would have to teach Annie how to swim.  I taught Sage.  Rattlesnake Lake, a warm April afternoon.  I waded out, dropped her, then watched her swim to shore.  Repeat same.  Now, if there is water, she is in it.

Annie isn't afraid of water.  But she hasn't swam.  Until yesterday.  It was my Mother's Day present from her.  In the morning, during our run we hit a lake.  Sage went in, then the next thing I knew, there was Annie, flopping all over, but swimming nonetheless.  Later in the day, a visit with friends on the Sound, Annie was addicted.  Going in, swimming time after time.  Her stroke is elegant, lean, very little wake.  Think Michael Phelps without the drug and alcohol issues (ouch, sorry!).  She is gorgeous in the water.

Guess I have a lab.

Murphy's Day.