Photography by Shanna Wolf
There’s an old adage: “In my next life, I want to be a dog.” And these Madison canines prove that indeed, they all lead a dog-gone good life.
Click the names to learn more about these lake-loving dogs!
Cricket
BREED: Goldendoodle
PARENTS:Sarah and Grant Frautschi
HOME LAKE: Mendota
FAVORITE LAKE PLACE: “Cricket has been a boat dog since the very day we picked her up at nine weeks old. She loves it—she points her nose into the wind and enjoys each and every smell!” says Sarah.
CANINE PASTIMES: Cricket enjoys eating cheese, squirrel watching, backseat driving, the noisiest squeaky toys and lounging poolside with her favorite two- and four-legged friends nearby.
Sundance
BREED: Golden Retriever
PARENTS: Mary Paul Long and Richard Gartner
HOME LAKE: Monona
FAVORITE LAKE PLACE AND CANINE PASTIMES: “All things water are her favorites: lakes, ponds, puddles and running at full speed down the pier and launching into the air to retrieve her toy. She even loves the lake when it is frozen—it’s like a big dog park on the lake on some days!” says Mary Paul.
Karl
BREED: Schnauzer
PARENTS: Mary Paul Long and Richard Gartner
HOME LAKE: Monona
FAVORITE LAKE PLACE: Karl loves to sail [and] knows sailing commands. [He’s a] terrific first mate!
CANINE PASTIMES: Squirrels. Squirrels. Squirrels.
NAME GAME: “Karl? It just works,” says Mary Paul.
Sadie
BREED: Rescue mix of bulldog and labrador retriever
PARENTS: Silas, John and Susan Nicol
HOME LAKE: In the Monroe neighborhood on Wingra Lake.
FAVORITE LAKE PLACE: The Wingra docks.
CANINE PASTIMES: Swimming, fetching sticks and kayaking.
NAME GAME: The family always lovd the name!
Roy, Hank and Earl
BREED: Boston Terriers
PARENTS: Luke and Ashley Bruckner
HOME LAKE: Waubesa
FAVORITE LAKE PLACE: Gilligan’s Island
PET PEEVES: Roy doesn’t like fishing poles, golf clubs or brooms. Earl doesn’t like the leaf blower and Hank doesn’t like car rides.
NAME GAME: “Since Bostons are little dogs with big personalities, we thought it would be fun to give them tough-guy trucker names,” says Ashley.