In honor of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, I thought I’d share with you the time Asa got mistaken for a Great White Shark. As you know from our Dog Friendly Places reviews, we love visiting Maine beaches. Well back in June 2015, we were very amused when following our visit to Wells Beach a story appeared all over the news that a Great White Shark was seen one mile off the coast of Moody Beach in Wells.
“The Coast Guard confirmed the reported sighting but could not confirm that it was a Great White Shark…while shark sightings are not uncommon, they are rare at this time of year and so close to the shore.” June 21, 2015
At the time, Asa was a teething puppy. So it really didn’t come as a surprise that he got mistaken as a shark while swimming. After all, he was always biting at something with his razor sharp teeth. In fact, Asa was an absolute monster in and out of the water during his teething stage!
Great White Asa: Scourge of land and sea.
This “sighting” put me in quite a dilemma though. Do I embarrass the “experts” by telling them it was simply a Golden Retriever puppy with the sharp, pointy teeth, out enjoying a day at the beach? Or do I expand the hoax by telling thrill seekers that they could easily catch this scourge of the sea with a jar of peanut butter and squeaky toy?
Asa: Get out of the water! Someone saw a shark! Chuck Billy: It’s YOU, silly!
In the end I decided not to alert the media to correct this misidentified swimmer. Instead I kept Asa away from the beach for awhile until all the excitement died down. After all, Asa was an impressionable puppy who already believed he was a Dire Wolf. I didn’t want to accidentally encourage him to think he was a Great White Shark too!
Rare sighting of a Dire Wolf Shark? Personally I think Asa looked more like a Polar Bear at this age.
