The Golden Adventure of Ritz

Hi. My name is Ritz. I am a fluffy golden retriever. I love to sleep and fetch and chew on toys. But the thing I love most of all is swimming. My breed was made to swim through the water to retrieve ducks. I don't think I've ever retrieved a real duck before. I did have a toy duck when I was a young puppy that I thought was real for a long time. I chewed and chewed on him and I didn't understand why he kept squeaking. Then, finally, I tore him open and I found fluff inside. Fluff! My humans tricked me! All that time I thought I was being a hero, bringing down a mighty, mighty duck. Anyway, I digress. I've never retrieved a real duck, but I do love to retrieve tennis balls when my humans throw them into the water.

Sometimes I swim in a little pond behind my house. But my humans don't seem to like when I do that. They say that I smell bad after, but I don't understand. I think I smell fantastic when I'm dripping with mud and pond water. And my other dog friends think so to. The only thing that ever made me more popular than smelling like a swamp was that one time I brought my buddies a whole steak (by the way, it wasn't my fault the humans dropped it, so don't blame me).

Sometimes, my humans drive me to a big, big lake to go swimming. They call it Lake Michigan, I think. I like to call it the big big lake. It's so big I can't see the other side! It doesn't smell as good as the pond, but I think it's my favorite swimming spot.

One time my humans took me to the big big lake. I was so excited when I got out of the car! I could smell the water and I couldn't wait to swim. I ran to the water. But something was different this time. The water looked like it was moving. I was very confused. The water would roll towards the shore, then crash, making a terrible loud noise. It sounded a little bit like a thunderstorm, so I got scared because I hate thunderstorms! When I hear thunder, I hide in my humans' basement until the terrible noises stop. Thunder could kill a guy! I'm so scared of it. But I didn't want to hide in the basement today. I wanted to swim more than anything.

My human threw a tennis ball into the water. I knew she was counting on me to retrieve it. It's my duty. If I don't retrieve the tennis balls, they will be lost forever. I took a step. My paw touched the water. It felt alright. But then, some more water came and crashed down onto my paws! I ran away. It was too scary, I couldn't do it. I looked at my human. She was pointing towards the water and telling me to go. She said it was ok, but what did she know? She even stepped into the water. I saw it crashing all around her and it made me more scared.

But then I remembered, there's a reason they call me a golden retriever. It's because I'm so good at retrieving. I could win a gold medal for retrieving. I think that's why my breed is called that. I could see the tennis ball. It was my duty to swim out and get it. I had an idea.

I climbed up onto a rock. I leapt as far as I could. There was some water crashing into the shore right at that moment, but I jumped over it! Then, all of the sudden, I was swimming. And I was having so much fun! I didn't even care that the water was moving. I retrieved the tennis ball and brought it to my human. She was so proud of me! She even gave me a treat.

And now, every time I go to the big big lake, I'm not scared of the water. And I retrieve all the tennis balls. Maybe one day I'll get over my fear of thunderstorms too.