Teaching a dog to swim?

[wolf_Q]

I've been camping the past 2 weekends.......I have pics....I'll post later if I feel like it and you all are not sick of a certain red husky.

Anyway, the first trip I went through all the effort of putting a life jacket on him but I didn't want to get in the water much so I didn't really see about him swimming.

I forgot the life jacket this time, but I decided to take him out into the pond and see what happened.

I took it very slowly...tossed some sticks into the water and had him fetch them..he loves water, he has a small pool at home which he plays in all the time. He'd willingly run and splash into the lake, and enjoyed himself very much. Then I went into the water with him with a stick and he'd follow me, me praising him of course.

He would go right up to his belly but if he went one step farther and he couldn't quite touch..........He'd start whining then latch onto me (literally, I had a husky with his paws on my shoulders...) for dear life.

I was right there with him the whole time.....he seemed to think that he couldn't swim....I tried to convince him he could, but he wouldn't have anything of it.

So I gave up and just tossed sticks into the shallow water and let him and Reggie fight over who got it first. Lady LOVES to swim, and I think maybe if we had her he'd go in and play with her.

Not that it really matters if he swims or not....just wondering if anyone had a dog that was afraid to swim at first, and they taught them to enjoy it.

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

I think one of Drake's most favorite activities is swimming. He's a fish in water!! But it wasn't always like that. We moved to the lake when Drake had just turned one. We tried everything to get him to swim, but he just wouldn't go for it! He would wade in so long as he could touch the groud and then when it got a bit deep, he walked the other way!!

Several times we would carry him to the deeper part, and he would swim and latch on to Andrew or me. Clawing our backs or chest! One weekend, Willa, my brother in laws, Border Collie was over and we took the dogs swimming. Once Drake saw Willa swimming and everyone praising her, he dove right in!! After several swimming weekends, he got the courage to jump off the dock and the even the boat!!

Now, you can't keep him out of the water!! Best of luck to you with Nebo!

[Kfamr]

With what Souraya said ~ I think you should let Lady give Nebo swimming lessons.

[zanzanfergie]

I'm waiting till our summer to teach Lucy to swim, because we have a pool. She's a retriever, so hopefully it'll come naturally to her.

I'm saving up for a dog floaty too, just in case she needs it (its a pretty deep pool...there isn't any area where she could touch the bottom, I don't think). How did Nebo feel about the jacket? I can't decide whether it'd be a waste of money, since it probably feels more natural for her to swim without it, or whether it could actually help her to feel safer in the water.

I'd love to see those pics of Nebo, if you care to post them

[ramanth]

The above suggestions are great.

I didn't think Kia would ever swim. For one she jumped in off the dock and paniced when she realized it was over her head... plus she showed no interest in tennis balls or any other toy that you'd find dogs fetching.

Then one day someone had a retriever trainer and Kia went nuts. The person let me borrow it and I tossed it in close to the ramp and Kia eased in and swam to get it. Each time I tossed it out farther.

Andy and I also took her to Stoney Creek, the local Metrol Park. Dogs are not allowed on the beach but there is a this one area where people go to swim with their dogs. So I would swim out to deep water and Kia would swim to me. I'd tell her she was a good girl and we'd swim back together.

Now she'll fetch sticks and tennis balls, as well as her 'water toy'.

Plus her 'water toy' is attached to a nylon rope so if she decides to not fetch it, I don't lose it.

Come on Nebo! You can do it!

[Cinder & Smoke]

SmokeMutt an I wuz kinda * s l o w * ta take up swimmin...

I liked ta *wade* inna waddur, but avoided gettin in too deep;
Smoke wudint *touch* da stuff - till Labur day in '01...

Here's da Tail - start reedin on 09/09/2001...
"Cinder wants to Keep the Stray she Found..." (page 16)

Ebber since den - ya kant keep us offa Dock!
We still dont like *wadin in*; but jumpin offa Dock is Phunn!

[slleipnir]

Josie always loved water, but she use to not go in where she couldn't touch the sand. One summer I went in with her, and that would be the only time she'd swim, is if I was right next to her..it was weird, but anyway. Now she loves swimming even by herself. I'll throw a stick in the ocean for her, and she'll go right out and bring it back Zeke on the other hand, doesn't seem to like water..he's only been to the beach like 3 times in his life though..so I'll have to do the same thing with him I guess

This is a little off topic but anyway: When at the beach, if Jo sees my feet under water, she digs at them No clue why..she must think they look like something..

[GoldenRetrLuver]

I think Daisy was a born swimmer. When she was about 4 months old, se just decided to jump into the water while we were in there! I think swimming is her fav activity! Molly on the other hand..wont go in the water...she just keeps an eye on Daisy and us.

[KYS]

I had a lab/GSD that loved the water and would go
swimming on her own.
One day I was swimming at a friends house and my
pup was so worried about me, she panicked and jumped
in the pool to grab me to try to get me out.
That was her first time ever swimming for her, and she loved
swimming ever since than.
Now the 3 dogs I have now, would let me drown before
they go swimming.
Pepper doesn't even like to get her feet wet, but
Rocky and Sheba will go into the water only
up to where the water reaches the bottom of their tummy's.

(that's a great idea, see if he will go swimming with lady)

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Originally posted by KYS
Now the 3 dogs I have now, would let me drown before
they go swimming.
Pepper doesn't even like to get her feet wet, but
Rocky and Sheba will go into the water only
up to where the water reaches the bottom of their tummy's.

(that's a great idea, see if he will go swimming with lady)

Cracked me up!!

We went climbing on Sunday and there was a dam and lake right below the rocks. Draker had a ball. He swam his lil heart out!

[Kfamr]

Awww ~ that pictures of Drake is cute. He's a handsome boy!

[KYS]

I see this little head bobbing up in this great big lake.
That is such a great picture of Drake swimming.
Did you ever think about renting a
house boat on a lake for a vacations?
I bet you Drake would have a ball.

[kingrattus]

Max loved to swim from day one. But when my exfriend & I tried to grt her rottie to swim we had the same problem. he'd go out to his belly & then hit the breaks & cried for us to come back.

I decided to get Rocky out as far as he would go & then lead him quickly off the edge of the water (I could still touch bottom). The first thing I did was put 1 arm under his neck & the other under his belly & kept talking to him & giving him kisses.. it took a few mins to calm him down, but then he realized that he was ok.

I did that too him for a few days in a row until he went out on his own.

(I did that 5 yrs back) & I also taught Rocky to jump off the dock with Max (I had to help Rocky jump out far enough so he wouldn't hit his knees on the dock) & race to fetch the stick. Max always won, but Rocky learned that when he caught up to Max on land Max would give Rocky the stick. They were the best of buddies, I hated the day I had to end it for them.

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

Originally posted by KYS
I see this little head bobbing up in this great big lake.
That is such a great picture of Drake swimming.
Did you ever think about renting a
house boat on a lake for a vacations?
I bet you Drake would have a ball.

We lived on a lake (Lake Lanier) until very recently when I came to Ft. Rucker. There were no neighbors for miles and we had a dock and boat. I would let Draker out to do his business and he would come back hours later soaking wet

[Kona & Oreo's mom]

Oreo was afraid of the water until one day we went to the beach with her friend Morgan, a Chesapeak Bay Retriever. When she saw Morgan having fun in the water, she dove right in after her. Her jealousy was more powerful than her fear!

I think it is less scary for dogs to learn to swim at beaches or lakes than in pools; it has to do with the sloped ground vs. the sudden drop-off.

I saw a show on Animal Planet that said it is important to teach your dog "pool saftey" (if you have a pool). They said most dogs can swim if they have to, but many have trouble getting out of a pool because they don't know where the stairs are. Because of the placement of their eyes when their noses are pointed up out of the water, they can't see down under the water in front of them to find the steps. They showed how to train your dog to swim toward some sort of marker (a ball or flag) in the air above the stairs.