I know there are tons of dog people on wera and I have a question for all you guys that have dogs that love playing in the water. Since I was a kid i always wanted a dog that loved to play in the water and swim. 3 dogs later and not one of them loved the water. Just recently adopted a 7 wk old golden retreiver collie mix. She is noW 4 months old. We get to see her brothers every weekend we go to our cottage and they love the water jump right off the dock and everything. Ive taken it very slow with her havnt pushed the water issue at all. The most we have done is go the beach were we can walk into the water and play a bit. She doesnt hate it or love it. Any tips on how to get them more comfortable and enjoy going in and playing and retrieving their toys? Thanks for all the help in advance
I think if you scare them with it right away they'll always be leary, sounds like you're at least on the right track, let him go in on her own. Maybe the other dogs will persuade her.
Thats what we tried my fiances parents have a pit/lab mix that will run around in the water so we took her in first and the little one followed at first but then kinda stopped when the water got deep so we just held off there and stood around!!! Figure its just going to come down to wheter they like it or not and not to push them...
Yep, take it slow and play in the water where she is comfortable until she decides to try deeper waters and swimming.
Other than telling you to get a Lab I'm no help, most Labs love water. My 2 are in every puddle or ditch they find. When we take them to camp they're out of the truck and into the pond, usually hunting frogs. They'd spend the whole weekend in it if we let them.
My dog would barely put her feet in the water unless I brought out her favorite toy. I'd walk out to waist deep water with her frisbee and she'll come after it every time. That's the trick i use to get her to swim.
Ol' Tons of fun couldn't swim until he was about 3. Now he'll get in the water if I'm in it, but only after about 20 minutes of barking at me from the dock/shore.
My Weimaraner doesn't care about water.. But he does care about his frisbee. Wherever the frisbee is, that's where he goes. He'll get in the pool or the lake depending on how hot he gets. I took him swimming when he was about 12 weeks old. Other than that, just the frisbee.
My first golden retriever jumped into the local pool when he was 10 weeks old. I'd taken him to the local JC where I was on the swim team to show him off to some friends. A swimmer had stopped swimming to say hello and when she swam off, he dove in after her. He used to swim with me in the lake and we'd stop out in the middle and relax, I could turn him over on his back and float with him in my arms. Some dogs hate the water others you can't keep out.
I would start slow. If there is a local park with a shallow slow moving stream, she may want to walk in to cool off. Thats how I found out that my lab loved water. If your pup is ball or toy driven, you can try to toss it in the stream. Hopefully she will take your bait. Otherwise you will be getting it, haha. You may be able to go in yourself and maybe she will walk in after you. I have a springer spaniel and he loves to go into the stream but originally he was a bit stand offish. He followed the lab in often and now loves it. Good luck!
Ok so I just told my wife about the thread and she asked "don't all dogs naturally like water? What else would they drink?" My shepherd just jumped in and loved it, wifes family had a lab and it wouldn't go near the water. I think some dogs like it others don't, guess you just haven't found a swimmer yet.
This. I have a golden and took the same approach. Once they trust you and see you go in, the rest just happens.
