For some peculiar reason, it seems that a lot of the nation's top masters swimmers are also pug owners.
Ande Rasmussen, Kristina Ulveling, Heather Rietz, and--well, ah, me--are all owners of at least one and in some cases multiple pugs.
I am hoping to do a little vlogumentary about the curious connection between swimming and affection for flat-nosed little dogs.
If you are, or know, a swimming pug owner, would you consider sending me some photos (resolution 640 x 480 at least) showing you and your quadrapedic wards? Please include your name, your dog's or dogs' names, and any theories you may have about the link.
The photos do not have to show pugs in the water, or wearing goggles, or decked out in a matching Speedo and Zoomers with its owners. But you can certainly send such pictures if you have them.
Send to Jamesthornton1@comcast.net or post them on your FB and/or USMS photoalbums. Just let me know where I can find them, and I will do my best to make your pug famous!
We haven't tested him yet in water but we have high hopes for the aquatic abilities of our new puppy, Juno (a mixed breed from a shelter). Two promising signs:
-- he has webbing between his toes
-- he usually streamlines when he stretches in the morning, placing one paw over the other (as Dave Barry would say, I'm not making this up).
His intense hyperactivity, and general loco behavior, indicate his natural sprinting tendencies.
pugs are known pigs and scavengers. mine couldn't swim and hated the water. sank like a rock. btw, no coeralation between fast swimmers and pugs.. sorry to blow that theory away. i am slow:)
We have a puggle. He's my avatar. He would only swim if he was on fire.
We recently got a mutt, too. She's a spaniel-poodle-shepherd-something-or-other. She loves the water.
Former Member
Pffffft.
Now GREYHOUNDS - there is a real dog.
-LBJ
Don Graham - a pretty good butterflier in my age group - has a really cute dog. I don't know what kind of dog it is, but it is small, very fluffy and bright white. And according to Don, it is a chick magnet.
Which is important to Don, because he is a very successful professional photographer - and I understand that his primary subjects are models for fashion magazines. We should all be so lucky.
Seriously, Don does love his dog very much. I've seen him with the dog on deck at several nationals. If you see Don, ask him about his dog. It is really cute.
Personally, I have two black cats. They were adopted from an animal horder (100+ cats in a trailer) and they are very, very sweet - as well as being troublemakers.
I have a Collie. There aren't enough dog treats in the world to get him into the water. I nearly have to push him out the door to go out when it's raining. If I had his hair, I probably wouldn't like to swim either. Probably a good thing for me that he's not a swimmer. He's pictured below in his very own rain coat!
pugs are known pigs and scavengers. mine couldn't swim and hated the water. sank like a rock. btw, no coeralation between fast swimmers and pugs.. sorry to blow that theory away. i am slow:)
No hypothesis yet! Who knows? If may prove to be the lap sitting of pugs, which tests all the fine balancing muscles of the owner who is trying to position the pug, that is the key to core strength and swimming power!
We must examine all possibilities. We know that pug ownership does = swimming greatness. Now we just have to understand why.
Please, all of you, send attached jpgs of your pugs, beagles, labradors, etc. to me at jamesthornton1@comcast.net
This could be a charming little photo assemblage.
Former Member
It is logical that masters swimmers have pugs. We have two.
It's logical they have Beagles based on a non-stop desire to eat...anything...
My guy gets cupcakes, pork chops, cereal...he's a thievery adept!
Former Member
Ahhh, but which came first the pug or the swimming. I was a pug owner way before I became a swimmer... and I became a swimmer as a child. We won't say how long ago that was.
Lainey
Former Member
No hypothesis yet! ...We know that pug ownership does = swimming greatness. Now we just have to understand why...
Maybe short little legs + non-existant nose = doesn't need much time for walkies, therefore lots of time available for swimming?
I'm doomed as a swimmer. Not only do I not have a pug, I don't even have a dog. And if I could have a dog, it would be one of those retired racing greyhounds, which are about as different from a pug as a dog can be. Oh well.
