That Day on the Beach
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Dog
By Sarah Retzer

Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.
~Dan Rather

My husband Ben and I hadn't been in Portland, Oregon long when our friend Dan paid us a visit on a cool but sunny May weekend. The three of us decided to go to the coast for the day with our Golden Retriever mix, Gus. He was five at the time, weighed one hundred pounds, and had a dark, rusty color. We thought it would be the perfect time to introduce Gus to the ocean and to the beautiful Oregon coast.

Gus loves to go in the water — at least rivers and lakes — but he has always been a little timid when it comes to swimming. I can see the anxiety in his face much of the time, by the way his skin wrinkles heavily above his eyes and the way he holds his ears back. He often makes a quiet but high-pitched yelping noise as he swims. Every time his jaw moves to yelp, he swallows too much water, causing him to sputter and cough each time he reaches the shore.
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