Dolly Dog Blog: Mountain dog, or mountain goat?

Now that Dolly Dog is over 12 months old, and her joints are mature enough for the leaping and climbing and sand-running I used to have to try to prevent her from doing, there is no stopping my little (40.66kg) mountain goat. I cannot believe how sure-footed she is. And fearless. She's a sooky la la with strangers still, but get her near water or rocks and she will leap, plunge, scale, negotiate, and ascend.

Yesterday we went to one of her favourite places, Stony Creek in Cruickshank Park, Yarraville. There are a couple of steep embankments (I saw her go over the edge and ran down to make sure she was ok - by the time I got there she was hauling herself out of the fast-running water and running back up the very steep bank, impressing everyone who saw her) and a nice 25 metre "lap lane", so she can show off both her mountain-climbing and swimming skills. In fact, the swim is not really challenging enough for her any more, so she has to make it more demanding by finding something at the beginning to hold in her mouth as she swims...reeds, stick, tennis ball etc.

She loves all the swimming so much she gets almost hysterical with happiness. Then of course on the way home she is so exhausted she is fast asleep by the time we leave the car park. Then there is the rinsing and drying rigmarole once we get home. Still, in the absence of snow, cold water is the next best thing for such a furry baby!