Ive had a dog that loved to swim and I would say he "knew how" but sank like a rock. After reading "structure in action" I realize that he needed a life jacket because he simply didnt have the right structure to be able to keep his head above water.

I realized I never posted an update. Took Zeus camping and did get him in the water. He didn't have any trepidation about getting in-- he loves his daddy so as soon as I got in the water he just followed me in (I swear this dog would follow me into a pit of flame without thinking twice).

He did fine, especially for a first time swim. He had some trouble in medium-shallow water, like where it was deep enough that he couldnt stand on all 4 but could still stand up on his hind legs. At that depth he was just kind of flailing his front legs around. Water splashed up and he was snapping at it and it was just generally a mess. But once he got in a bit deeper he did just sort of naturally manage to swim toward me. Lots of heavy breathing so I could tell he was working hard.

He is definitely one of those "I'm gonna drown you" dogs though. He would swim straight to me and try to jump on me in the water. Shoulda files his nails better beforehand... ouch.

Camping was great. 8 hours of hiking a day for 3 days. He was a trooper. Barely moved for 48 hours after we got home so I know we got him good and tired. But now he's back to his normal high-drive working dog self. My best bud.

Sounds like a great trip, Chris. I'm jealous.

It does sound like fun.
All of our dogs love to swim. Usually we get them started with the boat bumper retrieve a few feet out, going a little further each time until they have to swim for it. Or we just take our young pups with a couple of the older dogs that already know how and love it. Then it's monkey see-monkey do. Most of them have been natural swimmers, but a few have had to develop their technique and stop the flailing and splashing.

henry is slowly moving towards swimming . . .

we have lots of little puppy sized ponds up in the alpine and he is getting bolder and bolder about running in and exploring the depth . i had him out for a long ( 3 + hours ) hike over some pretty challenging terrain the other day . when we got to blackcomb lake , i'm sure if i'd had a retrieve toy with me he would have gone right in , he was that hot . instead he did the classic border collie / puppy thing , roaring around herding things that aren't there lol .

we're going for a big weekend of hiking / bushwacking and i know there are some lakes that he might decide to go " all the way " in .