H and I snaffled a couple of nice nights at the coot on our own this week (thanks J&R) and took the chance to take Miss Maddie down to Climping, to see what she might make of the beach and sea.
The beach definitely went down very well – cue lots of mad puppy runs, jumps and digging – and then it was time to get a ball out of the doggie rucksack. Which we haven't done for a very long time, as we had to stop throwing the ball for Scrumpy many years ago now once her hips got too dodgy.
Maddie was deliriously happy with a ball being thrown along the shoreline – so we tried gently lobbing it into the shallows and BOOM – she was in!
Lots of happy running and fetching in the sea, but all in her depth for now. We haven't yet tried out her swimming technique (hope she's got one!) – think that might need to be in one of the brooks by the rugby club or in Richmond Park, once the water levels come up again.
But for now, she has officially been sea-dunked and drank a lot of tap water afterwards – just like Scrumpy used to, having guzzled a lot of the salty stuff.
And v nice to make the most of one of the dwindling sunny September days, before autumn fully sets in. x