From Jackson to Rudder

It's been a while since I participated in 23 Paws...  I had REALLY good intentions of doing this monthly, but well, I didn't.  First time I participated, I introduced Rudder.

I'm going to today though, because I remembered.  :o)  [...and because I'm avoiding work]

So, here's a little story about how the Ruddster got his name.

It was a dark stormy night nice sunny day so we headed up towards Palmer to hang out at one of their many little lakes.  When I took Rudder home from the trailer park, his name was Jackson.  Jackson to me just isn't a dog name.  Last name of my family on my mom's side?  Yes.  Name of a cute little blonde haired farm boy?  Yes.  Name of a spazz'tastic Springer Spaniel?  No.   Or at least that was my opinion.  :o)   It just didn't fit his personality.

I had, in my wishing for a dog mindset the previous year, created a list of names I liked from dogs.  This ranged from Echo, to Gatsby, to Remmy, to Grover.  Oh and the list went on...  Not a single one of the names fit him though.  Not at all.  We tried a few on for size, ya know, one or two a day.  I wasn't loving any of the randomly assigned names though.

But back to the lake.

This dog was SCARED of the water when I first got him.  Would MAYBE put a paw in, but swim?  Heck no!  Then, this day at the lake, it was like he found his little fish fins and I haven't been able to keep him out of the water since.  He was a swimming fiend and happily hopped in the water and swam around after sticks and his blue bunny.  However, I must say he nearly made me dizzy watching him swim around in curly cues.  Apparently he hadn't learned the fine art of steering himself while swimming just yet.

Avoiding the water.

He took a leap!

So, I was in a canoe and kept cringing every time we went over a log.  I think its a learned response to my days as a coxswain for the crew team in high school.  You were supposed to steer around those suckers, not go over them!  Going over a log could mean that you just required the team to make a costly repair in fixing or replacing the.... rudder!  (See where this is going??)

After once again gasping when hitting a log and looking towards the underside of the canoe, I commented, "Man, I keep forgetting we don't have a rudder!"  Click.  Saying the word rudder + watching this brown and white ball of energy create a spirograph pattern in the water = the ah ha moment.

I shared the "I'm pretty sure I'm going to call him..." with my sister and parents.  They gave the, "Um, yes, well, that's um, different...  Did you say Rudder??" response.  Well, it's definitely different, but it fits him.  He needed a rudder when he swam, so I gave him one (at least in name).  :o)

I have to say, he has become a pretty awesome swimmer and swims in a straight line like nobody's business. :o)




And just for fun....