If you are from Chicago, you might remember Umbra, the Wonder Dog.
She was adopted by Ted Erikson (the famous long distant swimmer).
Umbra was part Labrador and part Greyhound, and loved to swim.
In 1991, Ted and Umbra began swimming together.
Umbra managed to swim three miles in about 85 minutes.
She holds four first records in the Guinness Book of World Records for canine swimming.
She is the only dog to have swam across the Bosphorus (Asia to Europe) in Turkey.
That was about a two mile venture in 31 minutes on July 22, 1995.
She was also licensed and registered as a “Hearing Ear Dog for the Deaf”, and helped Ted immensely.
She became so famous, that Guru Sri Chinmoy,
(an Indian Spiritual leader, who lifted thousands of sheep over his head in his lifetime)
lifted her and Ted in 2004 in downtown Chicago.
She died in 2006, but lived 16 wonderful years.
Ted (my father) still misses her.

I had made a cork-top for a celebration to her life.
The pattern is done in a crochet thread, and it is fairly easy.
I did change the cork-top to a pencil-top for more versatility.