Penny likes to roll the windows down...

Some days I don't know if I can handle this dog anymore. Some days I can't get anything done because she jumps on me at the computer until I pay attention to her. Some days she gets my leather sketch journal and chews on the cord I use to tie it closed. Some days I catch her "feasting on the Word", and there's a corner missing from the cover of my study Bible. Some days she runs and runs and runs and barks and jumps.
And then we have a day like today.
I came home from studying for my exam expecting Penny to be ultra hyper. Unresponsive. Disobedient. But no, she listened to me! She had one time out to calm down when we had a guest come, but she DID calm down. And then we went through her commands just because, and I didn't have to say it more than once. And now she is chewing on one of HER toys and hasn't bothered me once since I got on the computer (which was only about twenty minutes ago). And I remember she has a few weeks until our intermediate obedience class starts, and that I'm not afraid to bring her around other dogs, and that I trust her more now, and am in tune with her, and I realize how beautiful owning and raising a dog can be. Especially one who may not have had the greatest of pasts.

We DID have a kind of crazy Saturday though. I took her to the river and wore my swimsuit so that we could get in the water together. Penny is scared of deep water so I have a life jacket for her. (She's also overweight and the river has a current, so I feel better having one on her. I've gotten A TON of comments and I am getting a tiny taste of people telling others how to raise their children, and I don't like it. No, dogs do not automatically take to the water. You have to condition them to it. I have read a bit of this. And also, just because something CAN swim doesn't mean they can swim as long as I want to be in the river, where I can touch the bottom. Rant over.)
We got to the river. I jumped in. Penny braced herself on the bank. I called, I cajoled, I pulled with the leash, but she would not come. Then I made a bad decision. I grabbed the handle on her life jacket and pulled her in with me. She gave the most distressed panting sound I have ever seen. She frantically paddled over to me and tried to climb onto me, leaving scratch marks on my torso and thighs. She swam back over to the bank and held onto the roots, panting like crazy. I couldn't get her off of them. The families watching me were yelling "ohh! Pobre perrito! Tiene miedo!". I got out of the water, helped her out of the river, and we walked back to the car.
The pre-vet club was holding a fund-raiser dog wash so I went over there to get the mud off of her. It took all four of us to hold her in the kiddie pool and wash her down.
I took her to Petsmart (which I think might be her favorite place) as a reward/apology for the rest of the day. Then we went to Chick Fil A. I got a meal, Penny got a cup of ice, and we sat on the porch and ate our treats. Poor thing.
I am NOT giving up on this water thing, but I am going to change my tactics. We'll get this beat!