Friendly Dog Takes Daily Swim Across Lake to Greet Everyone at Camp [Video]

• Thunder lives in a house across the lake, opposite a frequented campground.
• Campground regulars have gotten used to seeing Thunder, who swims almost daily from his house to the camp.
• He simply loves the daily swim, after which he greets everyone and stays as long as he can until his dad comes to pick him up.

Thunder has become known to the visitors of a campground near a certain lake. After all, it’s his daily habit to swim from his house across the lake to the campground on the other side, and greet everyone there.

Amanda Vermeer, who used to work at the campground, told The Dodo, “I truly believe that the swim across the lake is his favorite part of the whole endeavor, but on the camp side of the lake, I think he really just enjoys wandering around from campsite to campsite saying hi to all the people and seeing how far he can get before getting caught.”

While it’s obvious he loves swimming, he also loves the attention — and perhaps all the treats he receives, too!

He doesn’t swim home, though, so the campground regulars have made it a point to save his dad’s number so they can easily contact him.

Whenever Thunder’s dad notices he’s gone, he starts a patrol around the lake and the campground to look for him. That is, if he doesn’t get a call from the campgoers first.

Thunder’s family has tried numerous strategies to get him to stay on his side of the lake, but they’ve since accepted that Thunder is truly a lake dog.

Amanda once received a text from Thunder’s dad that read, “I’ll never stop him from swimming … It’s what he loves. I would never take that away from him. I just wish I could teach him to swim home.”

Amanda added that the friendly dog just “has too much fun on his adventures.”

Still, Thunder seems to know that the time to come home will eventually arrive, and that his dad will be picking him up. But he has somehow made it a game to make his daily adventure as long as he can.

“He’s always so proud of himself when he reaches the shoreline and comes out of the water, as if he’s saying, ‘Tada! Look, I’ve arrived!’ Amanda shared.

The independent 10-year-old dog tends to whine and show his sass when he’s caught, but he accepts pets as an apology. He also can’t hide his excitement when he hears his dad’s truck coming.

Thunder is certainly a lake dog! And everyone has accepted him for who he is.

Amanda shared, “He’s been swimming across almost every day for seven-plus summers; at this point I think it’d be unusual for Thunder NOT to swim across.”

Learn more about the adorable Thunder on Amanda’s TikTok and Instagram. 

Source: The Dodo