Curly Coated Retriever

Paloma, my Curly Coated Retriever, loves playing in the water. Even though we are a 'full-sized' family, we try to plan our various trips and vacations with her passion in mind.

Our lakefront home provides a perfect playground for her. I think one of her favorite games is fetch-the-stick, and true to her breed, she doesn't hesitate for an instant, even in the iciest of waters, to fetch that stick. For Paloma, it's her job. She just loves the water and she needs plenty of exercise. We realized we were investing in a breed of dog that was born to hunt and retrieve game, so we knew that exercise would be mandatory.

We love to take Paloma with us when we go boating on the lake. Her favorite activity then becomes watching for fish and if we happen to be fishing when she is with us in the boat--whoa--what an adventure! She thinks the fish are her 'game' and we really have to work to convince her otherwise. There have been a couple of times where she just had to respond to her instinct and she lunged into the water to try to retrieve our fish. We are still working on her training, and she is bright and loves to please us, but she definitely has a mind of her own.

We make sure that no matter what, she gets plenty of exercise one way or the other. And if my husband and I aren't available to walk her or provide her some other form of exercise she keeps busy and active playing in yard with our five- and eight-year-old. They just can't seem to get enough of her. We hope you will enjoy your Curly Coated retriever just as much as we do!