rudy's first beach trip

One of the things on our staycation list was to take our dearest Rudiger to the beach. He's never been to the beach and he's never been in the water (except for that one time he chased a duck into the pond, causing me to face-plant into the mud, but that's a story for another day) so we thought it would at least be entertaining for us to watch his first encounter.

I feel like I should tell you something about the relationship I have with our dog.

I was never, ever a dog person. I liked them okay, but I wasn't all mushy gushy about them the way some people are. And I totally judged "those" people who treated their dogs like their own human offspring. And when Andrew wanted to get one a year and a half ago, I was all "whatever, I'll get a dog" but wasn't really anticipating a major bond.

And then we found Rudy. He's kind of like my backup soulmate when Andrew's away and I really, really believe that God put him in our family to keep me company during this whole Navy thing. Calling him a companion doesn't even begin to describe it. He's the sweetest animal I've ever known and that's the truth.

So that's my way of justifying dedicating an entire post to my dog :)

When we first got there, he wasn't sure what to think of the moving water or the scary floating foam blobs.

Then Andrew coaxed him into the water and after a few minutes he was fine. He loved it, actually.

And Andrew was so excited that he was able to get him in the water. I think it made him feel accomplished. I knew he could do it - he's good like that.

We got the tennis balls out and that, combined with the water and the wide open spaces, put Rudy right over the edge.

He's not so good with the catching, but he's GREAT at jumping up and down along with the bouncing ball. But don't worry, he got the catching part down soon enough...

And that's the story of Rudy's first beach trip. And also, gratuitous pictures of my favorite canine.

The end.