Hi Folks,

I'd like to know how to get my dog into a swim? He loves the water and goes in right up to his belly but WONT go for a swim for any reason (lost his ball the other day trying to get him in there <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> and he LOVES his ball <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> )

Clearly I don't want to throw him in, that would be silly, but are there any tequniques to getting him to go that extra mile so to speak?

He has a ton of prey drive and I've tried working on that to get him in but he just doesn't have the confidence yet. How can I build this?

I do note that it is VERY cold here in Scotland but that doesn't stop him getting very wet and paddling in the water for large parts of our walk (he just loves it)

Many Thanks

John <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

My dog does the same thing in natural bodies of water, he won't go into the pool unless I make him, which only increased his fear of walking near the pool so I just stopped caring about that. When I did get him to swim in the pool, he caught onto swimming real fast, I'd put my hand under his chest so he knew he wouldn't sink n kinda guide him into a circle around the pool back to the steps.... I wish I had done it when he was smaller, teaching an adult GSD to swim scratches you up pretty bad.

Not to hijack the thread... but could someone also post at what age you can expose a puppy to swimming? I want my next pup to have absolutely no problems with the swimming pool n an 8 week old pup is alot easier to hold than a 10 month old pup, is 8 weeks too young?

Mike,
I think all pups can swim. Mine fell into a pool at 3 months, and swam very well for a few minutes until I hopped in and got him out. It was of course not the right way to teach him at all, he was frightened by the sudden submerging. As an adult, he now loves to play in streams and small pools. I live near a large tidal river, but have not taken him in yet, becasue I want him to have more experience in a lake first.

I have been warned that it is very important to carefully teach a dog how to enter and exit a pool using the steps, because otherwise, they can hop in for a swim when you are not watching, panic when they cannot get out easily, and even drown. For that reason, personnally, I would not take any large dog into a pool unless it had large steps that the dog can navigate, but it sounds like you have a good pool for the dog.

polly

Yeah there's big steps that the dog can stand on easily, even an 8 week old puppy could stand on the top step and only have his legs submerged in water... Cujo knows where they are even though he hates swimming <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> His nervousness is so bad he refuses hotdogs until after he's inside and dried off, but at least I know that if he were to fall in, he'd find his way out. He's gotten alot better in that he'll go up to the swimming pool n walk around it and heel nicely when I walk around the pool with him, but if I reach down to touch him he tenses up thinking I'm gonna make him go in. I wish there was a natural body of water I could take him into, a small stream that's deep in the middle where I could stand on one side with a long line n guide him accross or something, but in Florida you have to assume there's a gator in every lake, and all the natural bodies of water that you could safely go into are regulated by state parks that won't let dogs in that area <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Caleb has always been a water NUT, but wouldn't go very far out until he was about 10mos old unless there was a good reason. He was hesitant to in where he couldn't touch, so rather than force him, I got in and swam away from him. I didn't watch him, and about 30 seconds later, I heard him right behind me. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Now, he couldn't care less how far or deep he goes (no gators here, and the water is clear enough I can see the bottom where he's swimming. The main thing I worry about is fish hooks.) Keep at it, don't force the issue, and I bet he'll gain confidence.

We have a swimming pool so one of the first things we do with out house dogs is teach them to swim and teach them the only way out is the pool steps. (I have a friend who lives in the woods that has a pool and he finds dead coons in his pool - if they cant get out your dog is not going to)

I pick a dog up and carry it into the pool. I gently lower him in the water right in front of the steps. A second person is at the top of the steps and they call the dog to them. In the beginning I guide the dog to the steps, but after 4 or 5 turns I will let him go to a side walk and try and climb out - just so he sees it cant be done. After several attempts I will guide him to the steps.

I can normally get my dog to learn the steps on the first day. I gradually take him further and further from the steps until eventually I release him from about 10 feet down the wall that the steps are on.

The same thing can be done in a lake. Keep it simple and take your time. Keep the dog on leash so he cant bolt when he exists the water. Basically just desensitize the dog to going into the water. If you do it enough times and ignore his negative behavior he will see there is no big deal. The fact is if he only has to swim a few feet back to shore its not that DANGEROUS for him and he will soon figure it out.

With luck he will eventually be willing to go the other direction - follow you out into the lake.

Be careful of dogs going into swift current - THEY CAN AND WILL Drown.

I started my male shepherd swimming at 12 weeks in a small, privately owned lake with VERY little waves. Its a pretty still lake, and he did fine. Swam like a crocodile. My other dog was 2 and had never been in water, but he followed me in willingly enough and had some fun in spite of his initial thought. lol. Just keep it fun and stop before the dog gets tired. I like to leave 'em wanting more.

Just out of curiosity, do all/most dog breeds have webbed toes?
Our Mal x GSD does, but I'd not noticed it on previous family dogs(Afghan, Lab, Springer).

Yes, they all have webbed toes.


Another note about currents and dogs. Do not use a line on a dog in a moving water situation unless it is the type that will float. Even then have a sharp knife handy. If you use a rope that sinks it can hang on a rock or a branch and the current WILL sink and drown the dog no matter how good they swim. A floating line will only snag if there is stuff near the surface.

I don't swim my dogs on lines, but I routinely see people on vacation do it here in the summer and it is a bad idea.

Also, what looks relatively calm can be decieving when the crap hits the fan.