Mackenzie: A new friend at Wimpole

No, this isn't Isla, but a new friend she met at Wimpole Hall: Mackenzie, a five month old puppy being trained as a Canine Partner.  Since I was carrying a camera, Mackenzie's trainer asked if I would take a few snapshots which could be shared with the people who were sponsoring him.  What a handsome boy, and very well behaved considering his age.  Needless to say, Isla thoroughly enjoyed playing with him. 

The original plan was for Isla to have another swim, but the "pool" had been taken over by a herd of cows and several sheep.  As a result it wasn't possible to let her off the lead, so Issy "volunteered" to go for a paddle since she happened to be wearing wellies.  Not quite up to the standards of last week, but still good fun for an energetic pup.

Proper swimming

You may remember that Isla was less than enthusiastic when she first met water, but she's grown up a lot during the last two months.  Harriet and I took her for a walk at Wimpole Hall this afternoon, and a couple of other dogs were having great fun swimming in one of the lakes.  Needless to say Isla didn't want to be left out, so we decided to see how she would cope on this occasion.  We needn't have worried, though - even when the water became significantly deeper than she expected and proper swimming was the order of the day.

 

I'm a big girl now...

 

The swans, thankfully, were protected by a raft of water lilies.

We'd like to go swimming again, please...