Rio loves the water and he loves to go hiking with us to one of our favorite spots, Upper Priest Lake in Idaho—such a pretty place. The water is clear and clean and there's lots of wildlife and private places to go and just be with nature—a perfect place for a Bernese Mountain Dog.
We hiked in about 2 miles through the big cedar trees to the lake's edge. The scenery was gorgeous and Rio wanted to get in the water and play. But, he didn't really know how to swim. So, our good friend Shelby went out a ways and called to him. Rio immediately trusted her and would paddle out but then cling to her and give us the look like, "I can't swim back, I don't know how to swim!" I would then call to Rio and he would launch off of Shelby and come back to me. He started gaining more and more confidence that he could do it and I was worried for a while he was going to take off across the BIG Lake. Fortunately, when he saw Shelby, he just couldn't resist, and would go back to his good friend and take a rest in her arms again—he is sooo trusting.
Our daughter rode her Quarter Horse, Liberty, all around the lake. Rio and Liberty love each other—she often will dip her head to touch her pal Rio on his back or head. It's funny how animals get along so well and it never ceases to amaze me when I watch them here at our farm. On the way home, Rio had a nice big snooze in the back of the Tahoe all to himself. Yes, life is good!
