I know a guy who is scared of 'big' dogs. When he says big he means anything bigger than a kelpie or a staffie, so that includes Bender and Barbie. He is looking at adopting a dog but he only wants a small one. I don't think he has ever had a dog before.
I have been trying to convince him that a bigger dog may be a better companion for his two girls. After all, they will be teenagers soon, and need some protection.
We took Barbie and Bender to a family gathering on the weekend, and there were a lot of young kids there.
Who wouldn't love these beautiful faces? Of course, Barbie earned herself a new best friend.
Barbie hasn't had a lot of exposure to kids, but her lovely placid Greyhound nature helps. She does like attention from kids, especially if they are calm and gentle. As always, their interactions were very closely supervised by me and their parents. I showed this photo to my friend who has issues with big dogs, and he was almost shocked. I'm working on him. One day he will be adopting a Greyhound! ;)
It was a very hot day, and maxed out at 37 degrees. There was a lake in the middle of the park, and in some parts it had a retaining wall and it was a deep drop into the water. N had Bender on the leash, and I had Barbie. Bender pulled over to the lake and took a few licks at the water. I let Barbie walk to the edge because I thought she wanted to do the same.
Thing is, Barbie didn't stop at the edge, she just kept walking.
She fell in to the water, and it was deep enough for her head to go under. After half a second she surfaced, doggy paddling - at least I know she can swim now.
She then put her back legs down, and stretched up with her front legs to put them on the lake wall. She was at a pretty steep angle though to keep her head above the water. She then had a couple of goes but managed to jump up out of the water. I was impressed. It's funny how we learn something new about our dogs every day!
After spending all day in the stinking hot park - we took them to a new beach, down in Singleton, which is half way between Mandurah and Rockingham.
Even though they were both exhausted from spending hours in the park on their best behaviour, they livened up when they hit the water. 
Barbie finally found some water that is a more appropriate depth for her to cool off in. Singleton is a great beach, though there are a lot of silly people who do not pick up their dog's poop! You could never get away with that at City Beach - if the Rangers didn't catch you, your fellow beachgoers would!
