Silver the Wonder Dog

Our intrepid boxer, Silver, had a mishap yesterday down at the pond. I had taken the dogs down there for a morning romp and Silver went directly to the far side of the frozen pond to do his business. I headed after him to pick it up, then watched him tear off with enthusiasm across what we call the gangplank to the tiny island in the middle of the pond. Usually, he just streaks across it and leaps from the island back to the near side effortlessly on his long legs. This time he got distracted. Something on the island made him pause, but only a little. He resumed his jet propelled forward motion, but with less momentum. That was just enough to cause a much less than elegant landing, with his hindquarters crashing through the ice and only his forefeet on the bank. The cold water must have inspired him to scramble because he soon got his footing again with all four feet on land, shaking furiously to shed the wet, looking back at me as if to say, “well that was different!”