Chuck F.
Thanks for the welcome!
I trained my first dog in 1957 at 12 yrs old,
taught and competed in AKC ob through the 80's,
got into earthwork early 90's. I found this site
8-10 months ago looking for working GSD for when I retire in 3yrs. I have learned as much or more in 8-10 months as the first 45 yrs. Looking forward to learning more. Thanks again

Whenever I take my GSD swimming at a nearby lake, I notice theres a discharge that forms in the corner of both eyes. It goes away after a few days. Is this normal or could it be a reaction from the water. If the problem doesnt go away, I would apply some antibotic eye cream and that usually does the trick. I rinse my dog off every time he goes swimming in the lake.

Lately I have not been taking my dog swimming....just running along the hillside playing ball for his exercise.

The discharge you are seeing is normal. It is due to the eyes trying to remove any debris that may have accumulated during the romp. The other cause could be that the water has upset the salinity of the eye. Either way the dog will be fine and it is normal.

I learn my dogs to swim around 6 months of age.
I do this with their favorite toy make then crazy and then throw it in the water. You have to make sure goes in the water the all way and REALLY swims because some stay at the edge with their back legs on the ground and front left splashing the water and this is not really learning to swim.
If this hapens I give them a little push and make sure they are diep enough so they can't tough the ground with their back legs. Otherways they only learn to swim with their front legs only or mostly.
That is why I personaly prefer them to jump in diep water through high drive. but this is not for every dog and the dog has to be already used to water. But this way you are 100% sure they use their 4 feet equally and swim kind of like a rat.

My dog I have GSD now LOVES to swim, she even won a small swimming contest of 16 other dogs all breeds. One thing I like to throw in the water is a tennis ball almost cut in two, these don't stay a flowth so long and when she get's their it is under the water. Then I say search so she keeps circling in the water putting her nose in the water at times. Offcourse I reward her by throwing an other ball later on.

I found this site 8-10 months ago looking for working GSD for when I retire in 3yrs. I have learned as much or more in 8-10 months as the first 45 yrs. Looking forward to learning more. Oldearthdog, I love that quote. it's so true. leerburg is just a wealth of information. I'm usually on the discussion boards until my head feels like it's about to explode. Let alone the Q&A on Leerburg.com!
Here's my question: My GSD has been swimming since she was 9 weeks old. and since then she has never learned the right way to do it. Her front legs kick out of the water and she splashes herself in the face and chokes the whole way. Eventually after a few times out and back she calms down and puts her front feet under the water. Any suggestions how to correct this? Not a huge deal, just seems really uncomfortable.

She needs to learn to level out. Most dogs figure this out after they've been in for a while, just like yours does after a few minutes. How old is she now?

Just over 2 years old.

I had one dog that,even in old age, swam high in the water like you described. He always leveled out, as L. described, after a few laps. Some dogs are just natural swimmers from the get go and some have to put some "thought" behind it. I don't know what you could do to help him out other than meby getting into the water with him, lifting his rear to get him more "aware" of his back legs. One of my daughters taught swimming at the Y and she always talked about how kids had to be told to kick with their feet because initially they just used their arms. Just a wild guess.

GSDobe,
Do you take her swimming frequently, or is it an occasional thing? Also, do you have a life jacket for her? Perhaps the extra support of the life jacket might give her enough bouyancy and security that she'll relax and level out.

L. The life jacket for security makes sense. Maby they swim verticle like that because they are still trying to touch bottom with their back feet? Just a thought. I sometimes have those. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />