Very hot day today (near 90), so rather than taking the dogs on a long walk, we decided it would be nice to stroll our way over to the Adirondack chairs in the shade near the public pool.

We have walked by this pool several times a week the entire time we've had the dogs; as far as I can tell, the dogs don't really acknowledge that the pool exists, and why should they? Of note, though, is the fact that we got Madison late last August, right before the pool shut down for the season.

Maddie loves water. Adores it. Swimming is probably her favorite thing in the whole wide world. She gleefully splashes full-speed into a lake or stream, getting up enough momentum to soak her whole head in the process. She'll run in and out and paddle around furiously, barking with joy the entire time, until she's physically exhausted and we drag her, often whining in protest, back home.

She has a herding-dog quirk, though: she thinks it's vitally important to keep her people out of the water. She will splash and leap, bark and nip, to drive people back to the safety of the shore. We probably should have corrected her strongly the first time we saw this behavior, but we were laughing so hard that it just didn't happen. It's something to work on, but it's hard to maneuver dog and treats and our soggy selves when we are knee-deep in water. Since we don't have a pool and don't swim in lakes ourselves, it's just a minor issue to us.

Fast-forward to today. We reach the pool-area, settle down contentedly under a tree in a nice comfy chair, make sure our leashed Corgis are safely in the shade and prepare to enjoy the sight of splashing children.

Then a child leaps in the pool, and Maddie goes bonkers. Barking, squealing, trying frantically to slip her collar. I wave a treat at her to distract her, settle her down, focus her on me, walk her nearer the fence, and then another child goes in. Calamity! Danger! Maddie starts fence-running as much as the leash length will allow, barking her fool head off, each breath coming with a strangled whine. Oh my. Not quite the relaxing sit-down in the shade we imagined!! Not wanting to have to take a trip to the emergency vet with a case of heat stroke, we brought them back here where they can relax on the cool tile floor.

So, the next cool day will find me with Maddie, parked in a chair with a big bagful of treats, teaching her to look to me whenever a child leaps in. I find it very amusing that a dog who loves to swim so much thinks that the water is so dangerous to people, but there you have it. A herding dog's brain at work, keeping the flock from danger, and apparently her "flock" includes every child ever born into this world.