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teaching a dog to swim


lister1
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i took my dog to a small shallow stream and throw her favorite toy in (on a bit of string just encase as you don't want to be the one going in lol ) i tried this a few times and she just stood there with them puppy eyes ,step 2 ,place your size 10 just under her rear and with a soft genital nudge in she will go ,once she was in that's it ,mine loves water she goes mad when were down the coast ,in and out the rock pools and in the sea and even been on my surfboard ,or what my brother did was to get in with some waders and carry her in ,just don't go to deep on the first few times ,if you scare the dog it wont go anywhere near it again ,hope this helps

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I started just letting the dog do what she wanted in shallow water

Then i moved on to throwing a dummy in the shallows for her to retrieve

I then went out with Silver Pigeon from this forum and let my dog follow his and that was it, she was out swimming and retrieving...went alot better then i imagined to be honest

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Have you had your dog in water yet?

 

Often the easiest, most simple way is to throw the dog in, it very quickly learns it's got nothing to be afraid of and enjoys it, then obviously chooses to go in after that by itself.

They can swim very well without needing to actually learn anything, all they need is the confidence to go in without being frightened.

 

Sometimes a dog may find it frightening - I've recently been teaching a dog that was scared. She wanted to go in as her mate was in there, plus there were ducks there, and it all looked very exciting for a dog. Throwing the dog in was too frightening for her, where most dogs would have soon been fine she was terrified, the only option was to put the dog in but keeping her on a lead and that gives the dog a huge amount of reassurance. Going in with the dog is probably the best way, but sadly it's not always practical.

It's important for the dog to know it can always get out when it wants to as well, that's very important.

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all different, no correct answer. Other dogs and competition is one, walking out with it another, lowering it gently in from a small boat, chucking dummies in the shallows getting progresively deeper till it steps off and swims- heck even getting in swimming yourself

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My Springer is almost eight years old. As there are no ponds on my permissions he has never been swimming. On our shoot there are ponds and he will never retrieve ducks from the ponds. A friend on the shoot advised me to take him to the beach with his ball and let him get used to it. Well he went for the first time yesterday ............. Well it worked better than I thought and he loves swimming already. Could not get him out lol

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all different, no correct answer. Other dogs and competition is one, walking out with it another, lowering it gently in from a small boat, chucking dummies in the shallows getting progresively deeper till it steps off and swims- heck even getting in swimming yourself

come on the kent ,as you seem to be the only one right on PW and everyone else is wrong ,why don't you tell us how you do things and put us all to shame,far play you are ether full of it or you don't even own u gun or your just a keyboard warrior /troll ,you must of been well spoiled as a child ,you seem to have lots of toys to throw out of your pram LOL go on tell me your ex regiment and you used to test guns for the army ,we had one like you in are club and he was soon told were to go lol
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all different, no correct answer. Other dogs and competition is one, walking out with it another, lowering it gently in from a small boat, chucking dummies in the shallows getting progresively deeper till it steps off and swims- heck even getting in swimming yourself

Personally I thought it a good,honest answer.Had dogs all my life(from 6yr old),mainly German Shepherds + Labradors & like humans their temperament varies greatly dog to dog.What works for one will destroy the confidence of another.

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As already stated, try and keep to shallow water. Try encouraging the dog to wade in even if it means going in yourself. Once the dog has entered the water try walking out to slightly deeper water....and so on. At the time you are doing this, keep talking to the dog giving it plenty of praise and encouragment. Most dogs will follow the owner and get out of their depth, dont worry as nature kicks in and they soon start swimming. If at any point you can see the dog stressed or begins to panic...pack up take it back to the bank but always keep reasurring and praising the dog. Leave it for a few days and repeat the process. Most dogs will naturally swim on their first attempt but other may take a little longer...........but wharever you do...dont force the issue. I`ve personally witnessed dogs ruined by an over eager handler/owner.

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As already stated, try and keep to shallow water. Try encouraging the dog to wade in even if it means going in yourself. Once the dog has entered the water try walking out to slightly deeper water....and so on. At the time you are doing this, keep talking to the dog giving it plenty of praise and encouragment. Most dogs will follow the owner and get out of their depth, dont worry as nature kicks in and they soon start swimming. If at any point you can see the dog stressed or begins to panic...pack up take it back to the bank but always keep reasurring and praising the dog. Leave it for a few days and repeat the process. Most dogs will naturally swim on their first attempt but other may take a little longer...........but wharever you do...dont force the issue. I`ve personally witnessed dogs ruined by an over eager handler/owner.

very well put that man ;-)
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  • 2 months later...

I have a problem with my spaniel, he swims well for while then when he gets near a dummy or on other occasions for no apparent reason he brings his front legs up and his swimming goes to pot, just a mass of splashes, this creates panic and he looks to get out of the water, he is very happy to enter the water and will retrieve and swim perfectly on perhaps 50% of occasions.

does anyone have an advice?

 

Thanks

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