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.