BRISTOL, Tenn. – In pursuit of his red frisbee, Tucker “The Amazing Water Weenie” Shumate, leapt off the edge of the pool, soared three feet through the air and belly flopped into Haynesfield Pool on Tuesday evening. His stubby 6-inch legs kicked madly behind him.
“I don’t think this is his first rodeo,” Bristol, Tenn., recreation
Superintendent Mike Musick said as Tucker and a dozen other dogs splashed around in varying stages of excitement or terror.
Tucker, a 7-year-old, 19-pound half-dachshund-half-mutt, acquired his nickname years ago by braving the waves to fetch his frisbee.
“We knew he would have a blast,” said his owner, Sam Shumate. “You oughta see him in the ocean.”
Tucker was attending the inaugural Doggie Swim at Haynesfield Pool, hosted by the Bristol Tennessee Parks and Recreation Department. Before draining the water for the winter, the department invited the dogs to come take a dip.
“There’s a lot of dog lovers in the Bristol area,” Musick said. “So we just thought it would be a neat thing to do to give the dogs an opportunity to come out and splash around and have a little bit of fun.”
Dogs are invited back Thursday from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. Admission is $4 a dog and free for people.
On Tuesday, there were some veteran swimmers in the bunch. But most were first-timers.
Junah, an “Akita-husky-lab-something like that,” turned out to be a better sunbather than he was a swimmer.
Tallie, a 55-pound Airedale terrier, seemed to prefer the baby pool.
“I think he can inherently swim,” said his owner, Tracey Hawkins, while trying to coax her thrashing 1-year-old into the shallow end. “But I don’t think he knows he can swim.”
Later, after a brief and apprehensive paddle about the pool, Tallie emerged to a very proud mother.
“Woooo!” Hawkins cried. “He can do it! He can swim!”
To get her two little furballs into the baby pool, Michelle Dolan tried a more direct approach. She “tossed” Phoebe, a 7-year-old Bijon Frise, and Oscar, a 3-year-old Malti-Poo, into the water.
“Oh, they’re having a blast,” she said of her tiny, drenched dogs. “This is an absolute blast. It’s nice to have a special day for dogs at the pool.”
Several owners confessed to having ulterior motives to the evening trip to the pool:
“He’s gonna sleep well tonight,” Shumate said. “He’s getting good and tired.”
cgalofaro@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2531
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