How many true water dogs are here?
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We go out to a county park that we had been to before that has a beach and another spot to take the dogs in(can't take a dog to a public beach). We found a nice spot that there was another dog at and it worked well. This was actually a quary(sp) and the spot we chose was good because it had the rocks that make it a gradual decline. I thought that Garfunkel would be a natural because at the dog park he hits the puddles up to his belly. Simon I was not so sure about. Both dogs jumped right in...up to their ankles and stopped. I went in, in front and tried to encourage them to come deeper and still touch. Simon, my brave boy came in a little farther...and stopped. Gar, nope, don't want any part of this. We did this for about 45min and neither dog actually swam. There were more dogs by now and all were happily swimming. I'm not a mean person, but I used some muscle, to show the dogs they COULD Swim, and they did great but they did not want to stay in. My guess is we do not have true water dogs. |
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| Mine enjoy cooling off in the pool and getting a nice cool drink.
But they do not enjoy swimming. This is as deep as they get: 
All four paw must remain on the ground at all time. 
Unless we pull them in and make them swim.  |
| My Drez was a true water dog, but only in the pool. The waves noise scared her when we had her at the beach, so she wouldn't go anywhere near the ocean! Here she is doing what she loved to do best in the summer.
http://photos.oes.org/albums/userpics/1 ... %20_06.MOV |
| Nope, MO is strictly a belly girl too. Now a sprinkler or water squirting someplace, that's a different story. She's in paradise. I wish we had a water cannon fountain in the area.......where the water shoots out in different locations in a random pattern. My poor girl would drive herself crazy. |
Chewie is a true water boy. 
He rarely gets to really swim, as I am afraid all that hair will drown him! 
He has to make do with our pond most of the time.... 
He tries to sneak in whenever he can. |
| Both of mine just play sea monster. They don't swim. Bear lays down in the water if it's shallow enough. He just likes to bask in it. |
panda will swim in the ocean but steers clear of pools...UNLESS it has a sloped entry.....
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Poor Dutch has never been near a place to swim but she doesn't even like the sprinkler just turns her head and walks away  |
| I took Mr Newfie puppy to the lake to swim on saturday and since Hubby was able to come with us on Sunday I thought we would take Morgan. he and Beowulf are good friends. I expected Morgan would stand in the water and just stay cool and occassionally play with the puppy in between his swimming lessons. WRONG!! Morgan loved it!! he out swam the little water-rescue-in-training-newfie like mad. we may have to train the two of them. |
| Pam, don't be discouraged. The first couple of times Harry was a little unsure. Now he is a swimming machine and I don't have a place to let him swim unless we are invited somewhere. I would love to take him on a beach vacation to see how he would do in the ocean.
I think a lot of dogs need to be exposed in small doses to things. And sheepdogs are often afraid of something "new". I took Mopsy when she was nine to a dog swim and she did it but I can't say she liked it. As a result I was determined that Harry would learn to swim when he was young and took him that first year to three pool closings in one week. It was like teaching agility or anything else. The first time I had to "convince" him on leash that the water was okay. The second time he would get in and swim but not go in unless I said "swim". By the third time I could send him out he would swim a few feet then swim back to me. When the next summer rolled around he was a little more excited and more independent. This summer I have practically had to hold him back. When I take him to someone's house he has never been before I try to show him where he can get in and out so it always a positive experience for him. Because it was new this year for the guys I would try it again sometime and give them lots of praise. Sometimes it is just a matter of confidence. It is possible that like Elissa's guys, who have a pool, they just might not like it. But I think about a lot of things that Harry was afraid of the first time like the tunnel or weave poles in agility that he is crazy about now. Or if I had never taken him swimming again after that first time he might not have had the chance to do something he really loves doing. |
| ^^
and don't scoff at life jackets. they can help build confidence. we used (a smallish  ) one on puppy yesterday so he didn't get too tired and he was much happier. I need to order a HUGOMUNGEOUS one for Morgan - I served as his "float" yesterday- for longer swims and so he can relax a bit more. Funniest thing was watching him watch the boats and seeing him try to figure out how to herd them all into one spot |
 
This is as far as Willoughby gets! He's actually put his paws in the pool when it's dry, so we'll try again on the weekend! |
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