Emmet loved water. He would try to swim in anything that looked like it might be swimable. Out at the farm, we used to water our animals using large stock tanks that held 100 gallons of water. For some reason, Emmet got it in his head that this was large enough for him to swim in, so we would regularly find him with his entire body in the stock tank, splashing around with glee.

Periodically in the summer, we would dump out the water and scrub them out and then refill them. Being 100 gallons, it would take quite a while to refill them when using just a garden hose. One afternoon after I had scrubbed them out and dropped the hose in to refill it, I had gotten distracted and walked away for a few minutes to check on something else. When I got back, Emmet was no where to be seen. Fearing that he had wandered off somewhere, I called his name and immediately saw his head pop up from the stock tank. It seems that he was laying in the bottom of it, waiting for it to refill. Crazy dog!

–Pete

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Emmet had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma in July of 2008. He died on September 27, 2008 of an unrelated condition called GDV, more commonly known as bloat. He was 10 years old. For a photo tribute of his life, click here.

Tags: Dogs, Emmet, Labrador Retriever