He is more comfortable than he looks!

Following his dip in the village fountain a week or two back, I have been trying to think of a way to allow Dick van Duck to enjoy outdoor pursuits, but without the undignified scrabble to get the little blighter safely back out of the water and into the car.

I bought a small dog harness from the Chinese shop the other day, being careful to choose a colour that would suit Dick’s complexion, and tried to adjust it to fit him. It was completely hopeless, as a consequence of Dick’s anatomy being just a little too different to a standard dog’s.

Yesterday, armed with a crochet hook, some orange buttons and a ball of yellow yarn (appropriately enough, it was Cygnet brand double knitting) I set about making him a swimsuit/harness. At least the lead co-ordinated well with it, so my huge outlay (2€) was not entirely wasted.

Stepping out in style – what the well-dressed duck is wearing this season.

Dick has his own ideas about wearing it with the body strap behind his legs, rather than under his armpits as I envisaged, but otherwise, he seems to be quite comfortable with it.

We had hoped to give him a swim in a large water trough nearby, but for some reason, it is empty today. We thought this was a bit ironic, considering the torrential rain we had in the early hours here. Nothing daunted, we took him down to the Fabrica de la Luz, and let him play in the fountain there. As the fountain was small and there was nowhere he could get lost, we decided Dick could go skinny dipping, and he sat patiently while I undid his buttons and took off his duckini.

Time is short today, so I will not waffle on with descriptions. In any case, the photographs speak for themselves. Geoff has made a montage of the video he took, which you can see if you click here.

Happily playing together

(Yes, we did sneak up there and try to avoid being spotted by the neighbours, but Benino caught up with me as we were furtively returning home. I explained it was a safety harness to stop Dick getting lost. I think we got away with it.)

Happy Dick 🙂