So this "landscaping project" in the backyard is actually a pool. I've been in denial because I have mixed feelings about it (which have to do mostly with the unfrackingbelievable COST), but no, oh no, we won't go into that. It's there, and it's finished, and Saturday morning we put the solar cover on it (which is supposed to raise the temperature of the water by 10-15 degrees and also cut down on dirt and evaporation) and so there you go.

Which is exactly what Goblin did, somehow, on Saturday afternoon when Wes turned his back.

Wes heard a ::SPLASH!:: and whirled around to find Goblin floudering at one end, between the cover and the edge. I looked out the kitchen window in time to see Wes with his hands under Goblin's armpits (yes, dawgs have armpits) hauling our 150+ pound boy out of the water. It was quite the sight. We think that in running, he cut a corner a little too close (perhaps because the cover looks almost solid compared to just "bare" water) and tumbled in. We dried him off, tied him on the patio for an hour or so to finish drying, and just like a boy who fell in a mud puddle, he's none the worse for wear. My guess is when it's hot and we're in the pool this summer, he'll probably come crashing in, especially once he realizes there are concrete steps at one end and he can climb in and out at will. In fact, we opted for the sand filter rather than fiberglass because it thumbs its filtery nose at dog hair.

Ah, but poor little Lily.

Yesterday we put the pooches into the backyard for a romp and watering (big fresh water bucket on the patio). A few-- maximum five-- minutes later I hear Wes yelling "Von-- get out here now!" I rushed out (from the bathroom-- isn't that always the way??) in time to see him running toward Lily, who was, oh yes, in the pool and clinging for dear life to the edge by her front paws and her chin. Goblin fell at the 3 1/2 foot end, she opted for the center, which is the maximum 5 feet deep (stairs are at the other end, which is also 3 1/2 feet). She was on her hind legs and you never saw a more tragic and I just know I'm doomed! expression on a poor dog's face. I don't know how long she was in there-- if either dog would just freakin' bark we'd know something was wrong!-- but she was completely traumatized. We hauled her out and dried her much heavier fur as best we could, then brought her inside, where she crouched on the carpet and trembled off and on for the next two hours. When I could get her to walk, she wouldn't put weight on her right front leg, but there was no swelling and she wasn't howling. I finally gave her a little sedative, one left over from the $400.00 dog toy incident not quite two years ago, and she calmed a bit. I knew she was okay when she ate her entire bowl of food without any problem. After that I gave her two yummy muscle anti-inflammatories (those left over from Goblin's $900.00 shoulder incident a year ago) and she finally calmed down enough to sleep through the night. I put her out a couple of times in the front yard to go potty (away from the Evil Pool) but she wouldn't go off the front porch until Goblin came out with her. She kept that pathetically hurt and insulted expression all last evening. Seeing as how one of the training tools for a Deaf Dane is a squirt bottle, she must've been convinced she somehow did the worst wrong something of her life and got thrown into a giant bathtub of I done wrong! as punishment.

Oh, and did I mention that when we pulled her out of the pool, Goblin was hiding behind the eucalyptus tree?

Oh yeah. We think he probably stuck his nose into her unmentionable area when she wasn't expecting it and goosed her right into the water.

::sigh::