Three Dogs & The Muskegon River

Some friends and my and I took our dogs to the Muskegon River and boy did those dogs love the water.

My son and I have been pretty excited for weeks knowing that my best friend Curt, who I've known for a lifetime, and his wife, Debbie were coming to visit and they were bringing their two dogs Cash and Chief.

Our dog Jake loves being around other dogs but he doesn't get a lot of opportunities to pal around with other k-9s. His real first time was at my friend Brian's house in Indiana when he was just a pup. He got to hang around with a couple dogs. Then the next time was the week he spent at doggie daycare at Paws and Unwind.

The visit this weekend was the first time Jake had a couple dogs come over and stay his house. I have a pretty big yard so there was lot's of room for all three dogs to have a big time and they did.

When my friends arrived it was pretty hot out and we were catching up a bit while the dogs were going through their rituals of getting to know each other. It didn't take long for all three dogs to start having a great time. My son Evan was loving it too. At one point he looked up at me and said, "Dad, I'm sol glad we got Jake."

Since it was so hot and we knew the dogs would love a visit to the Muskegon River. So we packed a cooler, grabbed some leashes and headed to the river.

We went to the Muskegon River and entered at the Croton Dam. There was a trail with a low spot I knew from fishing where I thought it would be easy to get in and out from and so the dogs wouldn't interrupt others who might be fishing.

As soon as we got those dogs down to the river and unhooked those leashes, splash, splash, splash, one after the other all pile into the river. There was a fourth splash and that was my son who couldn't wait to get in there and play in the water with those dogs.

This was Jake's first time swimming and being a black lab, he was a natural.

We spent a few hours at the river and while we were there, my friend Curt, found a pretty big tree root that had busted off a fallen tree and it turned out to be the perfect stick for three dogs. The root had three end on it, almost spaced perfectly so each dog could grab and end to chew and pull on.

These dogs had a big time with that root. We would throw it out in the water, they would all race to get to it first, then there was the battle to get it back to land. It was a lot of fun and definitely be some place we take Jake again.

Since it was Jake's first time swimming, not to mention all the playing he had already done before the swim, he was worn out. When we got back to the house I fed Jake and not long after his meal, he just passed out on the floor. I woke him a little ways into his deep sleep to take him outside for a bathroom break. It was actually hard to get him to wake up and while my friend and I were talking outside after his break. Jake passed out again right at our feet.

All in all, Jake and his two new buddies Cash and Chief had a real fun time together and I'm sure Jake will be looking forward to the next visit and so will my son and I.