We named him Sherman because even as a puppy he looked like a little Sherman tank. He weighed 120 pounds as an adult, but he was a big, goofy boy and was always gentle, especially with the children in the neighborhood who frequently came over to play with him.
He liked walking or hiking in the rain, but swimming just wasn’t his thing. At the shore he would only wade in up to his elbows to cool off. Deep water? No way! One day I took two of my neighbors’ grandchildren with us to pick up mussels.
It was muddy where they were gathering mussels and I told them not to go into the water because their sandals might get stuck. One little girl didn’t listen and waded in up to her knees. When she stepped out of the mud, one of her sandals came off. As it started to float away, she began to cry.
With barely
a moment’s hesitation, Sherman splash-plopped into the water and slowly plodded after the runaway sandal. He kept his eye on it as it floated out farther and farther, but he got it and turned to come back to shore.
You could tell by the look in his eyes that he realized he was swimming, and he didn’t like it! He hurried to get back to shore where he dropped the sandal at the little girl’s feet. She immediately stopped crying and hugged him.
I was speechless! First of all, Sherman didn’t fetch. Secondly, I hadn’t said a word to him. He went after the sandal all on his own, and into water so deep he had to swim. Apparently seeing a little damsel in distress was enough for him to overcome his fear of deep water, at least for that one time. I gave him extra treats that night, but he never went swimming again.
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from Claire in Nova Scotia, Canada
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Editors note: Sherman has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, where he was met by, in his words, “the Big Fellow,” and given a special assignment as Greeter, to help his many cousins get settled up there. Sherman realized that Berners who cross the Rainbow Bridge leave big holes down below in the hearts of their grieving humans so he began writing letters to let them know that he was helping take care of their furry loved ones. His letters have made Sherman famous in some circles. You can read more about him in, “A Message From SHERMAN,” available from Amazon or a number of bookstores.