This pool I take my dogs to has a big pool and a long narrow pool. The kennel owner helps new customers "teach" their dogs how to swim in the long narrow pool. One person on each side with leashes on a harness pull the dog into the water and do a bunch of laps. The dogs catch on pretty quick, and it's safe. Alot of people don't know that swimming is not an instinct in dogs, they must be taught. When all is said and done some dogs like it and others don't. My male will go in because I tell him to (via the stairs only). My female will throw toys in herself and jump in after them, If i'm not quick enough.
Originally posted by Melanie Becker: Alot of people don't know that swimming is not an instinct in dogs, they must be taught. Both of my dogs learned by throwing a ball out in the water just out of their reach then further and further.....their bodies knew how to swim right away.....(I don't think you need to teach them, you just need to get them in the water the first few times)
I had pups from my last litter swimming unassisted at around 9 weeks. I didn't give them swimming lessons either <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Ptlm. Matthew Grubb, I would have laughed to see that, only because it has happend to me too...
My dog can swim just fine- but we were staying at a friends camp and there is a white bouy that marks something to do with the well about 15 feet out. It is under the water... well, bonehead goes out and dives after it, grabs it, pulls... can't get it, so dives again, wraps the rope around his nose like an aligator, splashing and thrashing... now that it is wrapped around his nose he can't come up for air...
Of course I am freaking out- I am trying to unload all electronics from my body- roomate does superwoman dive off the dock (pager on) and as soon as she hits the water the dummy decides he can't win this toy and lets go....
Kristen Cabe Webboard User Reg: 06-09-2004
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Loc: Asheville, North Carolina
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My foster dog, Charlie (a doberman/hound), could not swim. Even with a life jacket on. I tried and tried to teach him how, but he just couldn't. His butt would sink and he'd thrash about with his front feet and grab onto any- and everything he could reach. He even held onto the dock with his TEETH and refused to let go!
My own personal dog, Gypsy (a chow/pitbull), LOVES to swim. If there's water, you can bet she'll be in it! She doesn't like walking in wet grass, though. Go figure!
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For a long time, I thought my Ceili (mostly GSD, about a quarter Lab) hated water. I kept telling my husband that "here's a part Lab that hates water and won't retrieve - what's up with that??". I found out, though, that it's only water FALLING that she doesn't like - rain, hose, etc. She enjoys swimming - and will retrieve from the water, just not on land.
If anyone ever thought that dogs don't have their own distinct personalities, complete with quirks - well, they need to come talk to me! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
Stephan R Weber Webboard User Reg: 02-16-2004
Posts: 215
Loc: Des Moines, Iowa
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Back in the 70's I was throwning bumpers for my GSD x Dane into Humboldt Park lake (clear, weedy, urban big pond). My malamute, who never showed any interest in toys -- let alone retrieving -- suddenly shot off into the lake. It was like Wiley Coyote. She ran on the surface of the water for 4 or 5 yards, and then sank like a rock.
I was on the verge of diving in for her when she WALKED out on the shore, covered in weeds.
She was a kotzebue, so she wasn't dragged down by the coat -- and she was never afraid of the water. After that she would dive in, but she always walked out. I swim like a seal, so I'm not sure about the physics that allowed her to do that!
My buddie's wire doxies loved to swim in the lake, but roll like logs in the wake of anything bigger than a goose.
Getting them in the water a few times is what I meant by "teaching". Some dogs are very reluctant and won't take that first step, let alone even getting in something like a pool. I suppose a lake or ocean would be easier for the dog to do it on his own with the gradual entrance. When my female first started she splashed with her front paws and looked very stressed and didn't move foreward very well, after a few laps she calmed down and began to swim better, now she's a pro. But she never would have entered on her own if I didn't force her. If I would have thrown her in the middle of the big pool she would have got panicy and sank. Some dogs go for the nearest side and try to claw their way out. They must be taught to exit at the stairs.
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